Breakdown of Studenci pytają, dlaczego lista jest w dziekanacie.
być
to be
w
in / on (a day)
student
student (m)
dlaczego
why
pytać
to ask (a question)
lista
list
dziekanat
dean's office
Questions & Answers about Studenci pytają, dlaczego lista jest w dziekanacie.
Does the word order change in the second part of the sentence compared to a direct question?
No, it doesn't! Unlike English, where "Why is the list...?" changes to "...why the list is...", Polish keeps the exact same word order. A direct question would be Dlaczego lista jest w dziekanacie?, and it stays exactly the same when used as an indirect question.
Why is there a comma before dlaczego?
In Polish, you must almost always put a comma before a subordinate clause. Whenever you connect two mini-sentences with a question word like dlaczego (why), co (what), or czy (whether/if), you must put a comma before that connecting word.
Could I use the verb proszą instead of pytają here?
No, you can't. In Polish, pytać means "to ask a question" to get information. The verb prosić means "to ask for something" (like a favor or an object). Because the students want to know the answer to a "why" question, you must use a form of pytać.
Why does the word dziekanat (dean's office) change to dziekanacie?
It is in the Locative case because it follows the preposition w (in) to describe a location. For most masculine nouns ending in a hard consonant like -t, the Locative case changes that final consonant to a soft -cie.
Why is the plural of student spelled studenci and not studenty?
Because student is a masculine personal noun (it refers to male people or a mixed group). In the plural Nominative case (the subject of the sentence), these nouns often undergo consonant softening. Here, the final -t softens to -ci.
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