Breakdown of Dlaczego oni nigdy nie przychodzą punktualnie?
nie
no / not
oni
they (masculine personal)
dlaczego
why
nigdy
never
Questions & Answers about Dlaczego oni nigdy nie przychodzą punktualnie?
The lesson is about perfective arrival verbs like przyjść. Why does this sentence use the imperfective przychodzą?
Because of the word nigdy (never), which points to a repeating pattern or habit. Perfective verbs are for one-time, completed actions. Since they never arrive on time, it's an ongoing habit, so we must use the imperfective verb przychodzić.
How does the prefix przy- change the base verb in przychodzą?
The base verb is chodzą (they walk or go on foot regularly). Adding the prefix przy- adds the meaning of moving towards a destination or the speaker. Together, przychodzą means "they arrive" or "they come".
Why are there two negative words (nigdy and nie) in this sentence?
Polish requires double negation. Whenever you use a negative word like nigdy (never), nic (nothing), or nikt (nobody), you must also put nie (not) in front of the main verb. It literally translates to "Why do they never not arrive", which is grammatically perfect in Polish!