Questions & Answers about Proszę mu odmówić.
Why do we use the dative pronoun mu here instead of the accusative go?
In English, we just "refuse him." But in Polish, the verb odmówić (to refuse) requires the Dative case. You can think of it as giving a refusal to someone. Because of this rule, we must use the Dative pronoun mu (to him) instead of the direct object form go.
Why is mu in the middle of the sentence instead of at the end (Proszę odmówić mu)?
Mu is a short, unstressed pronoun. Polish prefers to tuck these short pronouns in the middle of a clause, right after the first stressed word. Putting an unstressed pronoun at the very end of a sentence sounds unnatural. If you really needed to emphasize "him" at the end, you would have to use the long, stressed form: Proszę odmówić jemu.
I know proszę means "please," but how does the grammar work when pairing it with the infinitive odmówić?
When you combine proszę directly with an infinitive verb, it creates a formal, polite command. Literally, it means "I ask to refuse," but it functions exactly like the English "Please refuse." This is a very common and safe way to tell someone to do something at the A2 level.
Is odmówić a perfective or imperfective verb?
It is a perfective verb. We use it here because the request is about a single, completed action (refusing him this one specific time). If you were talking about a habit of refusing him repeatedly, you would use the imperfective form, which is odmawiać.
Learn Proszę mu odmówić and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free