Breakdown of Ludzie szanują uczciwych policjantów.
ludzie
people
szanować
to respect
policjant
police officer
uczciwy
honest
Questions & Answers about Ludzie szanują uczciwych policjantów.
Why does policjantów end in -ów? I thought that was a Genitive plural ending.
You are right! For masculine personal nouns (groups including at least one man), the Accusative plural looks exactly the same as the Genitive plural. So, policjantów is the Accusative plural form here because they are the direct object being respected.
Why is the adjective uczciwych instead of uczciwe?
Because policjantów is a masculine personal noun, the adjective describing it must match its case and gender. Just like the noun, the Accusative plural for masculine personal adjectives copies the Genitive plural form, using the -ych or -ich ending. If the noun wasn't masculine personal, it would use the standard Accusative plural ending -e.
Is the subject ludzie a masculine personal noun too?
Yes. Ludzie means people and is the completely irregular plural form of człowiek (person). It is a masculine personal noun. If ludzie were the direct object in a different sentence, it would also borrow its Genitive form (ludzi) for the Accusative.
How do we get szanują from the dictionary form szanować?