Breakdown of Na tym starym zegarze jest dziesięć po drugiej.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
stary
old
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
dziesięć
ten
drugi
second / the other (in 'one another')
po
after; for (to fetch)
zegar
clock
Questions & Answers about Na tym starym zegarze jest dziesięć po drugiej.
Why does the sentence use drugiej instead of the regular number dwa for two?
When telling time, Polish uses ordinal numbers (first, second, third) for the hours, agreeing with the hidden feminine noun godzina (hour). So two o'clock is literally the second hour (druga). Because we are saying "past two" using the preposition po, we must put druga into the Locative case, making it drugiej.
Where is the word for "minutes" in this sentence after dziesięć?
It is simply omitted! Just like in English where we can say "ten past two" instead of "ten minutes past two", Polish drops the word minut in everyday speech. You just say dziesięć po drugiej.
Why is the phrase for "on this old clock" written as na tym starym zegarze?
The preposition na (on) describing a location triggers the Locative case. Zegar (clock) is a masculine noun. In the Locative, adjectives take the -ym ending (tym starym), and the noun zegar changes to zegarze because the final letter r softens to rz in this case.
Can I use the word zegar to talk about a wristwatch?
No, zegar refers to a larger clock, like a wall clock or a grandfather clock. A wristwatch is called a zegarek. So this sentence is definitely talking about a larger physical clock, not someone's watch.
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