Breakdown of Pies śpi między kanapą a fotelem.
pies
dog
spać
to sleep
a
and / whereas (contrast)
fotel
armchair
Questions & Answers about Pies śpi między kanapą a fotelem.
Why does the sentence use kanapą and fotelem instead of their basic dictionary forms?
The preposition między (between) requires the Instrumental case when describing a static location (where something is). The feminine noun kanapa (sofa) takes the Instrumental ending -ą to become kanapą. The masculine noun fotel (armchair) takes the ending -em to become fotelem.
Why is the word a used here to mean "and" instead of i?
While i is the most common word for "and", Polish uses a specific set phrase for "between X and Y", which is między X a Y. Whenever you are saying something is between two things, you must use a to connect them.
The word for "sleeps" is śpi. Does this come from the verb spać?
Yes, spać (to sleep) has a slight spelling and pronunciation change in the present tense. The hard s in the dictionary form softens to ś in the present tense for most forms, which is why "he/she/it sleeps" is śpi.