Breakdown of Ten kandydat nie ma ani wiedzy, ani doświadczenia.
mieć
to have
nie
no / not
ten
this (m)
kandydat
candidate
ani
neither / nor
wiedza
knowledge
doświadczenie
experience
Questions & Answers about Ten kandydat nie ma ani wiedzy, ani doświadczenia.
Why do we use nie ma instead of just ma? English says "has neither... nor".
Polish uses mandatory double negation. When you use ani ... ani (neither ... nor), the main verb must also be negated with nie. You cannot say ma ani ... ani; it has to be nie ma ani ... ani.
Why are wiedzy and doświadczenia in the genitive case?
The verb mieć (to have) normally takes the accusative case for its objects. However, when it is negated (nie ma), the objects must switch to the genitive case. This rule is called the genitive of negation.
What are the dictionary (nominative) forms of wiedzy and doświadczenia?
The dictionary form of wiedzy is wiedza (knowledge, a feminine noun). The dictionary form of doświadczenia is doświadczenie (experience, a neuter noun). Their endings change here because the negated verb forces them into the genitive case.
Is the comma before the second ani required?
Yes. In Polish punctuation rules, whenever you use a repeating conjunction like ani ... ani (neither ... nor), you must always put a comma right before the second one.
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