Breakdown of Zaraz oddam paczkę kurierowi i dam mu napiwek.
i
and
on
he / it (m)
zaraz
right away
dać
to give
napiwek
tip
oddać
to give back / to cast (a vote)
paczka
package
kurier
courier
Questions & Answers about Zaraz oddam paczkę kurierowi i dam mu napiwek.
Why does kurier change to kurierowi in this sentence?
kurierowi is in the dative case because the courier is the receiver of the action (you are returning the package to him). For most masculine nouns, the dative singular ending is -owi.
Why do we use mu instead of jemu for 'to him'?
mu is the short dative form of on (he). In Polish, we use short pronouns when they don't carry any special emphasis. You would only use the long form jemu at the beginning of a sentence or if you wanted to stress that you are giving the tip to him specifically, and not to someone else.
Both oddam and dam mean 'I will give'. What is the difference?
dam comes from the verb dać (to give). oddam comes from oddać, which adds the prefix od- (back or away). So, dam is just giving something new (like a tip), while oddam specifically means giving something back or returning it (like the package).
The package is paczkę instead of paczka, so why doesn't napiwek (tip) change its ending too?
Both are direct objects in the accusative case. paczka is a feminine noun, which changes its -a ending to -ę. However, napiwek is a masculine inanimate noun (an object, not a person or animal). For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative case looks exactly the same as the basic dictionary form.
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