Breakdown of Moja współlokatorka chowa cudze rzeczy do swojej prywatnej szafki.
mój
my
do
to
rzecz
thing (f)
swój
one's own
cudzy
someone else's
chować
to hide (put away)
prywatny
private
szafka
cabinet
współlokatorka
flatmate (f)
Questions & Answers about Moja współlokatorka chowa cudze rzeczy do swojej prywatnej szafki.
Why does the sentence use swojej instead of jej for "her"?
Swój is a reflexive possessive pronoun meaning "one's own". Because the flatmate (współlokatorka) is the subject of the sentence and the cabinet belongs to her, we use a form of swój. If we used jej, it would mean she is hiding things in some other woman's cabinet!
What case is swojej in this sentence, and why?
It is in the Genitive case. The preposition do (into/to) always forces the following noun phrase into the Genitive case. Since szafka (cabinet) is a feminine noun, the pronoun swój and the adjective prywatna both take feminine Genitive endings, becoming swojej prywatnej szafki.
What kind of word is cudze and why is it in this form?
Cudzy is an adjective that means "someone else's". Here, it modifies the plural noun rzeczy (things). The verb chować (to hide) takes the Accusative case for the direct object being hidden. Because rzeczy is a non-masculine-personal (non-virile) noun, the Accusative plural form of the adjective is cudze.
Why do we use do (into) instead of w (in) when she is hiding things "in" a cabinet?
In Polish, the verb chować (to hide / to put away) implies motion or the action of moving something to a new place. Because things are being moved into a closed space, you must use do + Genitive. You would only use w + Locative to describe where something is already statically located, not the action of moving it there.
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