Questions & Answers about Dzisiaj pracuję u siebie.
Why does this sentence use u siebie instead of w moim domu?
While w moim domu (in my house) is grammatically correct, using the preposition u is the most natural way to express being 'at someone's place' in Polish. It works just like saying 'at my place' instead of 'in my house' in English.
I learned that u mnie means 'at my place'. Why use u siebie here?
Siebie is a reflexive pronoun that refers back to the subject of the sentence. Since the hidden subject is 'I' (because of the verb pracuję), u siebie means 'at my own place'. You could say u mnie, but u siebie is usually preferred when the subject is at their own place.
Can I use u siebie to talk about other people working at their own places?
Yes! Because siebie always points back to the subject, you can use it for anyone without changing the word. For example, On pracuje u siebie means 'He is working at his place' and Oni pracują u siebie means 'They are working at their place'.
What case is siebie in here?
It is in the Genitive case. The preposition u (meaning 'at') always requires the noun or pronoun that follows it to take the Genitive case. The Genitive form of the reflexive pronoun is siebie.