Word
Dzisiaj nie spodziewamy się nikogo.
Meaning
Today we do not expect anybody.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Dzisiaj nie spodziewamy się nikogo.
nie
no / not
dzisiaj
today
nikt
nobody
spodziewać się
to expect
Questions & Answers about Dzisiaj nie spodziewamy się nikogo.
Why do we use nikogo instead of nikt here?
nikogo is the Genitive (and Accusative) form of nikt (nobody). We use it here because the verb spodziewać się (to expect) always forces the person or thing you are expecting to be in the Genitive case.
The sentence has both nie and nikogo. Doesn't a double negative cancel out?
Not in Polish! Polish grammar requires double negation. Whenever you use a negative pronoun like nikogo, the main verb must also be made negative with nie. You are literally saying 'Today we do not expect nobody.'
Is się part of the verb here?
Yes, the dictionary form of this verb is spodziewać się, which is a reflexive verb. The word się does not translate directly to English in this sentence, but it must be included in Polish for the verb to have the correct meaning.
Where is the Polish word for 'we' (my) in this sentence?
It is built right into the verb! The -my ending on spodziewamy already tells us that 'we' are doing the action. It is perfectly normal in Polish to drop subject pronouns like my unless you want to add special emphasis.