Breakdown of Czytam teraz kilka krótkich książek.
książka
book
czytać
to read
teraz
now
kilka
a few
krótki
short (length, time)
Questions & Answers about Czytam teraz kilka krótkich książek.
Why does the adjective krótki change to krótkich here?
It is in the genitive plural. The word kilka (a few) always forces the noun and its adjectives into the genitive plural. For adjectives, the genitive plural ending is either -ych or -ich. Because the stem of krótki ends in k, it takes -ich to keep the sound soft.
Why is the word for books książek and not książki?
Just like the adjective, the noun must be in the genitive plural because of kilka. To form the genitive plural of a feminine noun like książka, you usually drop the final -a. This would leave a hard-to-pronounce cluster (książk), so Polish inserts an extra e to make it książek.
Do all quantity words work like kilka?
Yes, quantity words like kilka (a few), dużo (a lot), and mało (a little) all force the following adjective and noun into the genitive plural. Numbers 5 and above do the exact same thing!
Could I put teraz at the end of the sentence?
You can, but putting adverbs of time like teraz (now) right after the verb is the most natural word order in Polish. Putting it at the very end sounds a bit like an afterthought.
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