Breakdown of Oprócz mięsa nie jem też nabiału.
nie
no / not
jeść
to eat
mięso
meat
też
also, too
oprócz
except / besides
nabiał
dairy
Questions & Answers about Oprócz mięsa nie jem też nabiału.
Why does mięso change to mięsa here?
The preposition oprócz (besides/except) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the Genitive case. Since mięso (meat) is a neuter noun ending in -o, it takes the -a ending in the Genitive, becoming mięsa.
I thought oprócz meant 'except'. Can it also mean 'besides' (in addition to)?
Yes! Depending on the context, oprócz can mean either 'except' (excluding something) or 'besides' (in addition to something). Here, because of the word też (also), it clearly means 'besides meat' (in addition to meat).
Why is dairy translated as nabiału instead of the basic form nabiał?
Because the sentence is negative (nie jem). In Polish, when you negate a verb that normally takes the Accusative case, the object flips to the Genitive case. This is a rule called the Genitive of negation. So, the inanimate masculine noun nabiał takes the Genitive ending and becomes nabiału.
Why is też placed after nie jem instead of before it?
In Polish, też (also/too) usually comes directly after the word or phrase it adds to. English speakers often want to put it before the verb ('I also do not eat...'), but in Polish, ja też nie jem would mean 'I too do not eat' (me neither), rather than applying the 'also' to the dairy.
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