Breakdown of Poszliśmy do salonu, żeby zrobić sobie przerwę.
zrobić
to do / to make (someone something)
do
to
żeby
so that, in order to
pójść
to go (on foot)
przerwa
break
sobie
to oneself / oneself (after a preposition)
salon
the living room
Questions & Answers about Poszliśmy do salonu, żeby zrobić sobie przerwę.
Why is sobie used in this sentence if the English translation doesn't say "for ourselves"?
In Polish, adding the dative reflexive pronoun sobie (for oneself) is very common when an action is done for your own benefit or comfort. While English just says "to take a break", Polish says zrobić sobie przerwę (literally: to make for oneself a break) to emphasize that the break is for your own rest.
Why is the verb zrobić (to make/do) used here instead of a word for "to take"?
Different languages pair different verbs with nouns! While in English you "take" a break, in Polish you "make" a break (zrobić przerwę). If you translated "take" literally using a verb like wziąć, it would sound unnatural to a Polish speaker in this context.
Why is zrobić in its dictionary form (the infinitive) after żeby?
The word żeby means "in order to" or "so that". When the people doing the action are the same in both halves of the sentence (We went... so that we could take a break), you just follow żeby with the infinitive verb. You don't need to conjugate it.
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