Breakdown of Lekarz rozmawia z pacjentem przed operacją.
rozmawiać
to talk
lekarz
doctor
z
with
pacjent
the patient (m)
przed
before (in time)
operacja
surgery (f)
Questions & Answers about Lekarz rozmawia z pacjentem przed operacją.
Why does operacją have that -ą ending?
It is in the Instrumental case. In Polish, the preposition przed (when talking about time, like "before") requires the noun following it to be in the Instrumental case. Since the base word is operacja (a feminine noun ending in -a), it changes to operacją.
Do both z and przed in this sentence take the Instrumental case?
Yes! The preposition z (when it means "with") takes the Instrumental case, which gives us z pacjentem. The preposition przed (meaning "before") also takes the Instrumental case, giving us przed operacją. It is very common to see multiple prepositions triggering the same case in a single sentence.
If pacjentem and operacją are both in the same case, why do their endings look so different?
The ending depends on the noun's gender. Pacjent is a masculine noun, and masculine nouns usually take the -em (or -iem) ending in the Instrumental case. Operacja is a feminine noun, and feminine nouns ending in -a change that -a to -ą.
Could I use mówi instead of rozmawia here?
Not really. The verb mówić means "to speak" or "to say," which is usually a one-way action. Rozmawiać means "to talk" or "to converse," which implies a two-way conversation. Since the doctor is conversing with the patient (z pacjentem), rozmawia is the natural choice.
Learn Lekarz rozmawia z pacjentem przed operacją and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free