Word
Czy pani widzi tę lampę między szafą a fotelem?
Meaning
Madam, do you see this lamp between the wardrobe and the armchair?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Czy pani widzi tę lampę między szafą a fotelem?
czy
[question particle]
pani
madam / Mrs.
ta
this (f)
a
and / whereas (contrast)
Questions & Answers about Czy pani widzi tę lampę między szafą a fotelem?
Why do szafą and fotelem have those endings?
They are in the Instrumental case. The preposition między (between) requires the Instrumental case for the things you are describing the location of. The base words are szafa (wardrobe), which becomes szafą, and fotel (armchair), which becomes fotelem.
Why does the sentence use a for "and" instead of i?
When saying "between X and Y" in Polish, the standard phrase is always między X a Y. You cannot use i here, as między... a... is a fixed pairing.
Why is the word for "this" tę instead of ta or tą?
The phrase tę lampę is the direct object of the verb widzi (sees), so it needs the Accusative case. For feminine words, the Accusative form of ta (this) is tę. You might hear native speakers say tą lampę in casual speech, but tę is the correct form for the Accusative case.
Why is the verb widzi (he/she sees) used to mean "do you see"?
In Polish, when you address a woman formally using pani (Madam), you must use the third-person singular form of the verb, just as if you were talking about "her." So literally, the sentence is asking "Does Madam see this lamp?"