Breakdown of Zabraniam wam wychodzić z domu!
dom
house
z
from (+ Genitive)
wychodzić
to go out / to leave (on foot) (imperfective)
wam
you (plural, dative)
zabraniać
to forbid
Questions & Answers about Zabraniam wam wychodzić z domu!
Why do we use wam here instead of was?
The verb zabraniać (to forbid) requires the person you are forbidding to be in the Dative case. Wam is the Dative form of wy (you, plural). It helps to think of it as saying 'I forbid to you'.
Why is the second verb, wychodzić, in the imperfective aspect?
In Polish, negative commands and prohibitions almost always use imperfective verbs, even if you are talking about a single, specific event. Because you are forbidding the action, you must use the imperfective wychodzić rather than the perfective wyjść.
What case is domu in the phrase z domu?
It is in the Genitive case. The preposition z, when it means 'out of' or 'from', always requires the Genitive case. For the masculine noun dom, the Genitive ending is -u, making it z domu.
Is it okay to say ja zabraniam instead of just zabraniam?
You can, but it is much more natural to drop the pronoun ja. The ending -m in zabraniam already clearly shows that 'I' am the one forbidding. Adding ja sounds like you are strongly emphasizing it: 'I forbid you, not someone else!'
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