Breakdown of Ona opowiada przyjaciołom o wszystkim.
ona
she / it (f)
przyjaciel
friend
wszystko
everything
o
about
opowiadać
to tell
Questions & Answers about Ona opowiada przyjaciołom o wszystkim.
Why did wszystko change to wszystkim at the end of the sentence?
The preposition o (meaning "about") requires the noun or pronoun following it to take the Locative case. The Locative form of the pronoun wszystko (everything) is wszystkim.
Doesn't wszystkim also mean "everyone"? How do I tell the difference?
You are spotting a very common overlap! Wszystkim does double duty. It is the Locative (and Instrumental) singular form of wszystko (everything), but it is also the Dative plural form of wszyscy (everyone). Because the preposition o takes the Locative case here, we know it must mean "about everything." If she were telling everyone a story, it would act as the Dative indirect object: Ona opowiada wszystkim... (She tells everyone...).
Why is the word for "to the friends" spelled przyjaciołom? Shouldn't it just be przyjacielom?
The noun przyjaciel (male/mixed friend) has a highly irregular plural stem. Instead of just attaching endings to przyjaciel-, the plural stem shifts to przyjaciół-. When you add the Dative plural ending -om, that ó softens into a regular o, resulting in the tricky spelling przyjaciołom.
Could I use mówi instead of opowiada to say "she is telling"?
Yes, Ona mówi przyjaciołom o wszystkim is grammatically correct and means "She is talking to the friends about everything." However, opowiadać specifically means to recount, narrate, or tell a story. Using opowiada gives the strong impression that she is going into detail and giving them a full, descriptive account of what happened, rather than just passing on information.
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