Breakdown of Jeśli opowiadają o nim, to prawda, a nie kłamstwo.
to
this
on
he / it (m)
nie
no / not
a
and / whereas (contrast)
prawda
truth
jeśli
if
o
about
kłamstwo
the lie
opowiadać
to tell
to prawda
that's true
Questions & Answers about Jeśli opowiadają o nim, to prawda, a nie kłamstwo.
Why is "about him" translated as o nim?
The preposition o (when it means "about") always requires the Locative case. The basic word for "he" is on, and its Locative form is nim. This makes o nim the correct way to say "about him".
Could I use mówią instead of opowiadają here?
Yes, but it changes the meaning slightly. Mówić is the general verb for "to speak" or "to say". Opowiadać specifically means "to tell a story" or "to narrate". Using opowiadają suggests they are talking at length or sharing stories about him, rather than just mentioning him.
Where is the verb "is" in the second half of the sentence? Shouldn't it be to jest prawda?
You can absolutely say to jest prawda, but in Polish, it is very common to drop the verb jest (is) when you use the word to to point something out. Here, to acts as a handy shortcut for "it is".
The English translation says "and not a lie", so why does the Polish use a nie instead of i nie?
The word a is a special conjunction that sits somewhere between "and" and "but". You use it to contrast two things. Whenever you want to say that something is one thing rather than another (like truth instead of a lie), you must use a nie. Using i nie would sound unnatural here because i only adds information, while a highlights the contrast.
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