Breakdown of Zjadłem wczoraj półtora kawałka tortu!
wczoraj
yesterday
zjeść
to eat (perfective)
tort
birthday cake
półtora
one and a half (m/n)
kawałek
piece
Questions & Answers about Zjadłem wczoraj półtora kawałka tortu!
Why do we use półtora here instead of półtorej?
The word for "one and a half" changes depending on the gender of the noun. We use półtora for masculine and neuter nouns, and półtorej for feminine nouns. Since kawałek (piece) is a masculine noun, we use półtora.
Why does kawałek change to kawałka?
Words that express quantity, including fractions like półtora and pół, force the noun that follows them into the Genitive case. The Genitive form of the masculine noun kawałek is kawałka.
Where did the "e" go when kawałek became kawałka?
This is an example of the "fleeting e" in Polish. Many masculine nouns ending in -ek drop that final "e" when a case ending is added. So, kawałek naturally shrinks down to kawałka rather than "kawałeka".
Why is tortu also in the Genitive case? Does półtora affect both words?
No, półtora only affects the word right after it (kawałka). Tortu is in the Genitive case because it translates to "of cake". In Polish, the word "of" is expressed simply by putting the noun in the Genitive case. So you get a chain reaction: "one and a half" requires Genitive (kawałka), and "piece of..." requires Genitive (tortu).
Could I say jadłem instead of zjadłem?
Because you are talking about a specific, finished amount of cake that you entirely consumed yesterday, you need the perfective (completed) verb zjadłem. If you used the imperfective jadłem, it would sound like "I was eating a piece and a half of cake" (focusing on the ongoing process, which sounds a bit strange with an exact fraction).
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