Word
Myślę, że powinnam chronić naturę.
Meaning
I think that I should protect nature.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Myślę, że powinnam chronić naturę.
myśleć
to think
że
that
powinien
should, ought to
chronić
to protect
Questions & Answers about Myślę, że powinnam chronić naturę.
How do I know who is speaking based on the word powinnam?
The ending -am tells us the speaker is a woman (I should). If a man were speaking, he would use the masculine form powinienem. Unlike English where "should" never changes, the Polish word powinien changes based on the gender and person of the subject.
Why is the verb chronić in its dictionary form here?
Because it comes directly after a form of powinien (should). Whenever you use this word to express advice or obligation, the action verb that follows it must be in the infinitive (the dictionary form), just like in English.
Why does the word for nature end in -ę (naturę)?
The verb chronić (to protect) takes a direct object, which requires the accusative case. Since the base word natura is a feminine noun ending in -a, you change the -a to -ę to show it is the thing being protected.
Is the comma before że (that) required?
Yes! In Polish, you must always place a comma before the conjunction że when it connects two parts of a sentence. This is a very strict rule, unlike in English where we often leave commas out in these situations.