Breakdown of Ona boi się węży, dlatego że są niebezpieczne.
być
to be
ona
she / it (f)
bać się
to be afraid
niebezpieczny
dangerous
dlatego że
because (for the reason that)
wąż
snake
Questions & Answers about Ona boi się węży, dlatego że są niebezpieczne.
Why do we use węży instead of the basic plural form węże?
The verb bać się (to be afraid) always requires the thing you are afraid of to be in the Genitive case. Because of this rule, instead of the standard Nominative plural węże (snakes), we must use the Genitive plural form węży.
What is the singular form of węży, and why does the vowel change?
The basic singular form is wąż (a snake). When making it plural (węże) or Genitive plural (węży), the nasal vowel ą changes to ę. This ą to ę shift is a very common pattern in Polish when a noun changes its form.
Could I just use bo instead of dlatego że here?
Yes, absolutely! Both bo and dlatego że mean "because" and you will hear both all the time. Dlatego że is slightly more formal and translates closer to "for the reason that," but they are completely interchangeable in a sentence like this.
Since bać się forces the Genitive case, why isn't niebezpieczne (dangerous) in the Genitive case too?
Niebezpieczne belongs to the second half of the sentence: są niebezpieczne (they are dangerous). In this new clause, the snakes are the subject ("they"), so we reset to the Nominative case. The Genitive rule from bać się only affects its direct object (węży) in the first half of the sentence.
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