Breakdown of Mój ojciec często zapomina o spotkaniach.
często
often
mój
my
ojciec
father
spotkanie
meeting (n)
o
about
zapominać
to forget (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Mój ojciec często zapomina o spotkaniach.
How is the imperfective verb zapominać formed from its perfective pair zapomnieć?
To make the imperfective form, Polish often changes the verb stem. Here, the perfective zapomnieć changes its stem to include -ina-, creating the imperfective zapominać. This is a common pattern for verbs ending in -mnieć (for example, przypomnieć becomes przypominać).
Why do we use the imperfective verb zapomina here instead of a perfective verb?
The word często (often) tells us this is a repeated, habitual action. Habitual actions always require imperfective verbs. If we used the perfective form zapomni, it would mean he will forget on one specific, completed future occasion.
Why is spotkaniach in the locative case?
The verb zapominać (to forget) is used with the preposition o when you are talking about forgetting about something. The preposition o requires the noun that follows it to be in the locative case.
What is the base form of spotkaniach, and how do we get this plural ending?
The base form is the neuter noun spotkanie (meeting). In the locative plural, almost all Polish nouns—regardless of their gender—take the ending -ach. Therefore, spotkanie becomes spotkaniach.
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