Breakdown of Szefowa musi wyjaśnić problem kelnerce.
kelnerka
waitress
szefowa
boss (f)
musieć
to have to
problem
problem
wyjaśnić
to explain
Questions & Answers about Szefowa musi wyjaśnić problem kelnerce.
Why does kelnerka change to kelnerce?
Feminine nouns ending in -a usually take the ending -e in the dative case. However, adding this -e triggers a spelling change called a consonant mutation. For nouns ending in -ka, the k changes to a c. Therefore, kelnerka becomes kelnerce (to the waitress).
Why is kelnerce in the dative case here?
The dative case is used for the indirect object of a sentence, which is usually the person receiving something. In this sentence, the waitress is receiving the explanation. Where English uses the word "to" ("to the waitress"), Polish simply uses the dative case ending.
Problem is the direct object being explained, so why doesn't it have an accusative case ending?
It actually is in the accusative case! Problem is a masculine inanimate noun (a masculine word for a non-living thing). For these types of nouns, the accusative form looks exactly the same as the basic dictionary (nominative) form.
How do you form the feminine version of the word for boss?
Why use the verb wyjaśnić instead of wyjaśniać?
Wyjaśnić is the perfective version of the verb "to explain", which focuses on the completed result. The boss needs to successfully finish explaining the problem. You would use the imperfective wyjaśniać if she was going to be explaining it repeatedly or was in the middle of doing it.
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