Breakdown of Lekarz kończy dyżur wpół do ósmej i zaczyna odpoczywać.
i
and
lekarz
doctor
odpoczywać
to rest
do
to
ósmy
eighth
wpół
half
zaczynać
to start (imperfective)
dyżur
the shift
kończyć
to finish (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Lekarz kończy dyżur wpół do ósmej i zaczyna odpoczywać.
Why do we use the imperfective verb odpoczywać after zaczyna?
Verbs like zaczynać (to start) and kończyć (to finish) are phasal verbs. When you follow them with an infinitive, that second verb must ALWAYS be imperfective. This is because you can only start or finish an ongoing process, never a sudden or completed result.
How does wpół do ósmej mean half past seven?
In Polish, time expressions with wpół do look forward to the next hour. It literally translates as halfway to the eighth hour (7:30). The word ósmej is the feminine Genitive form of the ordinal number for eighth, which is required by the preposition do.
Why is the first verb kończy and not skończy?
Kończy is the imperfective form of the verb, used here because the sentence is in the present tense. The perfective form skończy means will finish. Because perfective verbs focus on a completed result, they cannot describe an action happening right now, so they do not have a present tense form.
Why doesn't the noun dyżur change its ending after kończy?
The verb kończyć requires the Accusative case for the object being finished. Because dyżur (shift) is a masculine inanimate noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.
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