Breakdown of Zawsze proszę swoją współlokatorkę o pozwolenie.
zawsze
always
prosić
to ask
swój
one's own
o
for (asking for something)
pozwolenie
permission
współlokatorka
flatmate (f)
Questions & Answers about Zawsze proszę swoją współlokatorkę o pozwolenie.
Why does this sentence use swoją instead of moją for "my"?
In Polish, when the subject of the sentence (in this case, the implied "I") is also the owner of the object, you should use the reflexive possessive pronoun swój instead of mój. Since I am the one asking and she is my flatmate, swoją is the natural and correct choice.
What case is swoją in, and what determines its ending here?
It is in the accusative case. The verb prosić (to ask) requires the person you are asking to be in the accusative case. Because the noun it describes, współlokatorkę (flatmate), is feminine and in the accusative, the pronoun swój must take the matching feminine accusative form swoją.
Why do we use the preposition o before pozwolenie?
To say "to ask for something" in Polish, you use the construction prosić o coś. The preposition o paired with this verb means "for" and requires the following noun to be in the accusative case. Since pozwolenie (permission) is a neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary form.
What is the dictionary form of współlokatorkę and why does it end in -ę here?
The dictionary (nominative) form is współlokatorka. It is a regular feminine noun. Because it is the direct object of the verb proszę, it must take the accusative case, which means the ending changes from -a to -ę.
Learn Zawsze proszę swoją współlokatorkę o pozwolenie and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free