Questions & Answers about Cała rodzina ma grypę.
Why does the verb ma take a singular form if a family has multiple people?
In Polish, rodzina (family) is a singular feminine noun, even though it refers to a group of people. Therefore, it takes the third-person singular verb ma, just like in the English phrase "the family has".
Why is the word for "flu" spelled grypę here instead of its dictionary form grypa?
The verb mieć (to have) requires the thing being had to be in the accusative case. For singular feminine nouns ending in -a like grypa, the ending changes to -ę in the accusative case.
How does the word cała match the noun in this sentence?
Cała means "whole" or "entire" and must agree with the gender of the noun it describes. Because rodzina is a feminine noun, we use the feminine form cała. For a masculine noun it would be cały, and for a neuter noun it would be całe.
If I wanted to say "I have the flu", how would this sentence change?
You would change the verb to the first-person form mam and you do not need a pronoun. So, "I have the flu" is simply Mam grypę.
Learn Cała rodzina ma grypę 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