Breakdown of Kiedy detektyw ma czas, szuka jakiegoś śladu.
mieć
to have
czas
time
kiedy
when
jakiś
some, a certain
szukać
to look for
detektyw
detective
ślad
trace
Questions & Answers about Kiedy detektyw ma czas, szuka jakiegoś śladu.
Why is it jakiegoś instead of just jakiś?
The word jakiś (some) behaves like an adjective and must match the noun it describes. Because the verb szukać (to look for) requires the Genitive case, both the noun ślad (trace) and the pronoun change to their Genitive masculine forms: jakiegoś śladu.
How does jakiś relate to the word jaki?
Adding the suffix -ś to question words turns them into indefinite words (meaning something unspecified). While jaki means "what kind?", jakiś means "some kind" or "a certain". So jakiegoś śladu means "some kind of trace" or just "some trace".
Why does szuka take the Genitive case here instead of the Accusative?
In Polish, certain verbs always require the Genitive case for their direct object, even in positive sentences. Szukać (to look for) is one of the most common verbs that does this. That is why we use the Genitive śladu instead of the Accusative ślad.
The sentence starts with kiedy. Does the word kiedyś exist too?
Yes! Just like jaki becomes jakiś, kiedy (when) becomes kiedyś, which means "sometime", "someday", or "once in the past". In this sentence, we just need the plain kiedy because it simply means "when".
Why doesn't the word czas (time) change its ending after the verb ma?
The verb mieć (to have) takes the Accusative case. Since czas is a non-living masculine noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.
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