Breakdown of Właściciel, który pije kawę, jest dobrym człowiekiem.
być
to be
dobry
good
pić
to drink
kawa
coffee
który
which, who (relative)
człowiek
person, human
właściciel
owner
Questions & Answers about Właściciel, który pije kawę, jest dobrym człowiekiem.
Why does the sentence use który for 'who' instead of kto?
When linking a descriptive clause to a specific noun (like the owner), Polish uses który rather than kto. You generally only use kto for asking questions like 'Who is there?' or in broad, unspecified statements like 'He who wants to...'.
How do I know to use który and not która or które?
Why are there commas around który pije kawę?
Polish punctuation rules are very strict: you must always put a comma before a relative pronoun like który. Because this descriptive phrase interrupts the main sentence (Właściciel... jest dobrym człowiekiem), you need commas on both sides to separate it.
Why is coffee spelled kawę here instead of kawa?
Kawa is a feminine noun. Because it is the direct object being acted upon by the verb pije (is drinking), it changes to the Accusative case, where the feminine -a ending becomes -ę.
Why does the sentence end with dobrym człowiekiem instead of dobry człowiek?
This is a great refresher on the Instrumental case! When you use the verb być (here, jest) to say that someone is a noun (a good man), that noun and its connected adjective take the Instrumental case. Dobry człowiek becomes dobrym człowiekiem.
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