Breakdown of Nasi przyjaciele wątpią w istnienie tego zjawiska.
ten
this (m)
w
in / on (a day)
nasz
our
przyjaciel
friend
wątpić
to doubt
istnienie
existence
zjawisko
phenomenon
Questions & Answers about Nasi przyjaciele wątpią w istnienie tego zjawiska.
Why do we use w istnienie here? Doesn't the verb wątpić just mean "to doubt"?
In Polish, the verb wątpić (to doubt) requires the preposition w followed by the Accusative case. So instead of "doubting something" like in English, you literally "doubt in something" (wątpić w coś). Istnienie is a neuter noun, so its Accusative form is identical to its Nominative form.
Why is the subject Nasi przyjaciele and not "Nasze przyjaciele"?
Przyjaciel (friend) is a masculine personal (virile) noun, so any adjectives or pronouns attached to it must take the virile plural form. The virile plural of nasz (our) is nasi. The noun itself is also irregular: its plural is przyjaciele.
Is istnienie a noun or a verb here?
It is a verbal noun meaning "existence." It is formed from the verb istnieć (to exist). Polish frequently creates neuter nouns from verbs by replacing the infinitive ending with -nie or -cie, similar to English words ending in "-ing" or "-tion".
Why is tego zjawiska in the Genitive case?
It is in the Genitive because it acts as the complement to the noun before it, translating to "of this phenomenon" (the existence of this phenomenon). When one noun belongs to or describes another noun, the second one takes the Genitive case. Since zjawisko (phenomenon) is neuter, its Genitive singular ending is -a.
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