Question 1

Why is the verb dostajemy used here instead of its perfective equivalent?

Accepted Answer

The adverb zwykle (usually) tells us this is a repeated, habitual action, which requires the imperfective aspect. The perfective verb for 'to get' is dostać, and we form its imperfective counterpart by adding the suffix -awać, creating dostawać.

Question 2

The infinitive is dostawać. Where does the j in dostajemy come from?

Accepted Answer

Verbs that form their imperfective aspect with the suffix -awać have a special conjugation pattern. In the present tense, you drop the -wa- from the stem and replace it with a -j- before adding the standard endings. Because of this rule, we say dostajemy rather than the incorrect form dostawamy. You will see this exact same pattern with the base verb dawać (to give), which becomes dajemy (we give).

Question 3

Why is the word for emails maili and not just maile?

Accepted Answer

The word dużo (a lot) is a quantifier, and it requires the noun that follows it to take the genitive case. Since we are saying 'a lot of emails', we need the genitive plural form. Mail is an English loanword, and its genitive plural takes the -i ending, resulting in maili.

Question 4

Could I change the word order and say Dostajemy tu dużo maili zwykle?

Accepted Answer

While people would understand you, placing zwykle at the very end sounds unnatural. In Polish, adverbs of frequency like zwykle (usually) or często (often) typically go at the beginning of the sentence or right before the verb to establish the timeframe immediately.

Zwykle dostajemy tu dużo maili.

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