Question 1

Why does o take the accusative case (moje emocje) here instead of the locative?

Accepted Answer

The preposition o takes the accusative case when it follows verbs of asking or requesting, like pytać o (to ask about/for) or prosić o (to ask for). It only takes the locative case when used with verbs of speaking or thinking, like mówić o (to talk about) or myśleć o (to think about). Since we are using pytać, we need the accusative moje emocje.

Question 2

Could I say Psycholog pyta się o moje emocje instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can! The verbs pytać and pytać się mean exactly the same thing. Adding the reflexive pronoun się is very common in everyday spoken Polish, while just pytać is slightly more formal and often preferred in writing.

Question 3

What gender is emocje and why does it end in -e here?

Accepted Answer

The singular noun is emocja, which is feminine. Feminine nouns ending in -cja take the ending -cje in the plural. Because emocje is not a masculine-personal noun (it doesn't describe male people), its accusative plural form is exactly the same as its nominative plural form.

Question 4

Why is the possessive pronoun moje instead of moich?

Accepted Answer

Since emocje is in the accusative case and is non-masculine-personal, the possessive pronoun must match it. Moje is the accusative plural form for this category. You would use moich for the accusative only if you were talking about a group containing men, or if the sentence required the genitive or locative case.

Question 5

How would I use the pronoun siebie to change this sentence to 'The psychologist asks about himself'?

Accepted Answer

Because the verb phrase pytać o requires the accusative case, you must use the accusative form of the reflexive pronoun, which is siebie. The sentence becomes: Psycholog pyta o siebie. This shows how siebie always reflects back to the subject of the sentence (the psychologist) rather than pointing to someone else.

Psycholog pyta o moje emocje.

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