Breakdown of Zaczynamy czekać na gości.
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
gość
guest
czekać
to wait
zaczynać
to start (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Zaczynamy czekać na gości.
Why do we use na here if the English translation is "waiting for"?
In Polish, the verb czekać (to wait) is paired with the preposition na (which usually means "on") plus the Accusative case. You cannot translate "for" directly as dla here; you have to learn the set phrase czekać na (to wait for).
If na requires the Accusative case, why does the word for guests (gości) look like it is in the Genitive case?
You have a good eye! The word gość (guest) is a "masculine personal" noun because it refers to people. For masculine personal nouns in the plural, the Accusative case borrows the exact same form as the Genitive case. So gości is actually functioning as the Accusative here, obeying the rule for czekać na.
Why is czekać left in its dictionary form instead of being conjugated?
Just like in English, when you have two verbs back-to-back ("start to wait"), only the first verb changes to match the subject. We conjugate the first verb as zaczynamy (we are starting), and leave the second verb czekać (to wait) in the infinitive.
Could we use the perfective verb zacząć (to start) here instead?
Not without changing the tense. Zaczynamy is the imperfective form, used for the present tense ("We are starting"). If you used the perfective version, it would automatically shift the meaning to the future tense: Zaczniemy czekać na gości (We will start waiting for the guests).
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