Questions & Answers about Niedźwiedź śpi całą zimę.
Why is it całą zimę instead of the basic dictionary form cała zima?
When you want to express how long an action lasts (duration of time), Polish uses the accusative case. Because zima (winter) is a feminine noun, it changes to zimę, and the adjective cała (whole) becomes całą.
Could I use a preposition here to mean for all winter?
Yes! You can say przez całą zimę (literally throughout the whole winter). It is perfectly correct and means the same thing. However, dropping przez is very common and sounds natural when expressing duration.
Why don't we use the word wszystko to mean all?
The word wszystko means everything or all when referring to a plural group. When you are talking about the entirety of a single continuous block of time or object, you use the adjective cały (whole). The whole winter translates exactly to all winter in English.
Why does the verb śpi start with a soft ś when the infinitive is spać?
The verb spać (to sleep) is irregular. When conjugated in the present tense, the hard sp- stem softens to śpi-. Because the bear is a he, she, or it subject, we use the third-person singular form śpi.
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