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Dzięki temu odkryciu chory może żyć.

Dzięki temu odkryciu chory może żyć.
Thanks to this discovery, the sick man can live.
From Lesson 211:Thanks to and against (dzięki, przeciwko)·Polish

Questions & Answers about Dzięki temu odkryciu chory może żyć.

Why do we say temu odkryciu instead of the dictionary form to odkrycie?
The preposition dzięki (thanks to) always forces the noun or pronoun that follows it into the Dative case. Because odkrycie (discovery) is a neuter noun, its Dative form is odkryciu, and the demonstrative pronoun to (this) changes to temu.
Wait, isn't chory just an adjective meaning 'sick'? Why does it translate to 'the sick man' here?
You are exactly right that chory is an adjective, but Polish frequently uses adjectives as nouns to refer to a person with that trait. In this sentence, chory acts as the subject noun, meaning 'the sick person' or 'the patient'. Because it has a masculine ending, it specifically implies a sick man.
How would the beginning of the sentence change if we wanted to say 'Thanks to these discoveries' in the plural?
You would need the Dative plural forms. The pronoun temu would change to tym, and odkryciu would take the highly regular Dative plural ending -om, becoming odkryciom. So, the phrase would be Dzięki tym odkryciom.
Is it natural to change the word order, for example: Chory może żyć dzięki temu odkryciu?
Yes, absolutely! Polish word order is very flexible. Starting the sentence with Dzięki temu odkryciu simply puts more emphasis on the cause, which is a very common way to structure a sentence, but putting the subject chory first is also perfectly natural.

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