Questions & Answers about Dziecko ma pełny brzuch.
The verb mieć (to have) takes the accusative case. Why didn't the word brzuch change its ending here?
Brzuch (belly or stomach) is a masculine inanimate noun. In the accusative case, masculine inanimate nouns look exactly the same as they do in their basic dictionary form (the nominative case). Because of this rule, brzuch stays brzuch.
Why is the adjective pełny (full) used here instead of pełnego?
Adjectives must match the gender and case of the noun they describe. Since brzuch is masculine inanimate and in the accusative case, its adjective must be too. For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative adjective looks identical to the basic nominative form, which is pełny. If the masculine noun were an animal or a person, the adjective would take the -ego ending.
Is dziecko (child) considered a neuter noun even though it refers to a human?
Yes! Grammatical gender in Polish is mostly about the word's ending, not biology. Because dziecko ends in the letter -o, it is treated as a neuter noun. That is why you would use neuter adjectives with it, like małe dziecko (a small child).
How would I say 'The child's belly is full' using these same words?
You would say Brzuch dziecka jest pełny. Notice that dziecko changes to dziecka because it is now in the genitive case to show possession (the belly OF the child), while brzuch becomes the main subject of the sentence.
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