Questions & Answers about On nie ma nawet roweru.
Why is the word for bike roweru here instead of rower?
The verb mieć (to have) usually takes the accusative case, so if the sentence was positive, it would be on ma rower. But when you make a sentence negative with nie, the object changes to the genitive case. Therefore, rower becomes roweru.
How do I know whether to use the -u or -a ending for a masculine noun like rower in the genitive case?
For inanimate masculine nouns (objects, not people or animals), the genitive ending is usually either -u or -a. There is no perfect rule, but forms of transport often take -u. So, rower becomes roweru, just like pociąg (train) becomes pociągu.
Could I put nawet before on, like Nawet on nie ma roweru?
You could, but it would change the meaning! Nawet (even) puts focus on the word that comes right after it. In our sentence, nawet roweru means he lacks even a bike. If you said Nawet on nie ma roweru, it would mean even he does not have a bike.
In English we group the words not even together. Why are nie and nawet separated here?
In Polish, nie must go directly before the verb it makes negative (nie ma). Then, nawet is placed right before the word it emphasizes (roweru). You cannot group them together as nie nawet in this kind of sentence.
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