Breakdown of Wolę unikać orzechów, bo mam alergię.
mieć
to have
bo
because
unikać
to avoid
woleć
to prefer
alergia
allergy
orzech
nut
Questions & Answers about Wolę unikać orzechów, bo mam alergię.
'Wolę' means 'I prefer'. Does it always take an infinitive verb like 'unikać' after it?
It can take an infinitive or a noun! In this sentence, it takes the infinitive unikać (to avoid). If you wanted to say 'I prefer nuts' instead of 'I prefer to avoid nuts', you would skip the second verb and just use a noun in the Accusative case: Wolę orzechy.
If 'nuts' is the direct object being avoided, why is it 'orzechów' instead of the Accusative 'orzechy'?
That is because of the verb unikać (to avoid). While most verbs take the Accusative case for their direct objects, unikać is an exception that always demands the Genitive case. The Genitive plural of orzech (nut) is orzechów.
Why does the word 'alergia' change to 'alergię' at the end?
It changes because of the verb mam (I have). The verb mieć (to have) requires the Accusative case for the thing that you have. Since alergia is a feminine noun ending in -a, its ending changes to -ę in the Accusative.
Could I use 'ponieważ' instead of 'bo' to say 'because'?
Yes, you can! Both bo and ponieważ mean 'because'. bo is much more common in everyday spoken Polish since it is short and casual, while ponieważ sounds a bit more formal.
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