Breakdown of Dzieci kąpią się wieczorem.
dziecko
child
wieczorem
in the evening
kąpać się
to bathe, take a bath
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Questions & Answers about Dzieci kąpią się wieczorem.
Why is the word for evening written as wieczorem instead of just wieczór?
It is in the instrumental case. Polish frequently uses the instrumental case with times of the day to express when something happens. So wieczór is the noun 'evening', but wieczorem means 'in the evening'.
Why do we need the reflexive pronoun się here?
The verb kąpać się literally means 'to bathe oneself'. If you drop the się and just use kąpać, it means you are bathing someone or something else, like giving a baby or a dog a bath.
Why doesn't the plural word dzieci look like a normal plural for a neuter noun?
The singular word for child is dziecko. Normally, neuter nouns ending in '-o' change to '-a' in the plural, but this word is completely irregular. Dzieci is a special form you just have to memorize.
The infinitive is kąpać. Where does the 'i' in kąpią come from?
The verb kąpać undergoes a spelling change in the present tense. It adds a softening 'i' after the 'p' in all of its conjugated forms. For example, 'I bathe' is kąpię, 'you bathe' is kąpiesz, and 'they bathe' is kąpią.