Breakdown of Powinniśmy chronić środowisko.
powinien
should, ought to
chronić
to protect
środowisko
environment
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Questions & Answers about Powinniśmy chronić środowisko.
How do we get the form powinniśmy for "we should"?
The word for "should" (powinien) changes depending on gender and who is doing the action. For "we" (a group including at least one man), we take the masculine personal plural base powinni and add the "we" ending -śmy. If the group was entirely female, you would use the non-masculine base powinny to make powinnyśmy.
Why is chronić used here instead of a conjugated form like chronimy?
Powinien acts like a helping verb, similar to "should" or "must" in English. After any form of powinien, the main action verb that follows must be in its infinitive (dictionary) form. Therefore, we use chronić (to protect).
What case is the word środowisko in here? Did the ending change?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb (it is what we are protecting). However, the ending didn't change! Środowisko (environment) is a neuter noun, and neuter nouns always have the exact same form in the accusative case as they do in the nominative (dictionary) case.
I see the word środek (middle/center) hidden inside środowisko. Are they related?
Yes! Środowisko is related to the idea of a "surrounding medium" or everything around a center. Recognizing smaller, common root words like środek is a great trick for memorizing longer Polish vocabulary.