Breakdown of Odkurzam dywan raz w tygodniu, bo jest brudny.
być
to be
w
in / on (a day)
bo
because
tydzień
week
Questions & Answers about Odkurzam dywan raz w tygodniu, bo jest brudny.
Why do we use the word tygodniu here instead of tydzień?
In Polish, when you express frequency like 'once a week' or 'twice a year', you use the preposition w followed by the Locative case. The Locative form of the noun tydzień (week) is tygodniu. So, w tygodniu literally translates to 'in the week'.
Is it correct to just say raz for 'once'?
Yes! The word raz means 'time' or 'occurrence'. To say 'once', you can simply say raz, which is essentially a short way of saying jeden raz (one time). For twice or three times, you would add numbers: dwa razy, trzy razy.
Dywan (carpet) is the direct object here. Why didn't its ending change?
The verb odkurzać (to vacuum) takes a direct object in the Accusative case. However, dywan is a masculine inanimate noun (a masculine noun that is not a living thing). For masculine inanimate nouns, the Accusative form looks exactly the same as the basic dictionary form.
In the phrase bo jest brudny, how do we know what is dirty without saying 'it'?
Polish often drops subject pronouns like 'it' when the context is clear. The adjective brudny (dirty) has the masculine ending -y, which matches the masculine noun dywan. This ending makes it perfectly clear that we are talking about the carpet.