Breakdown of Maszyna potrzebuje prądu, więc proszę sprawdzić ten kabel.
ten
this (m)
sprawdzić
to check
więc
so, therefore
proszę
please; here you are
potrzebować
to need
maszyna
machine
prąd
electricity
kabel
cable
Questions & Answers about Maszyna potrzebuje prądu, więc proszę sprawdzić ten kabel.
Could I use zatem instead of więc in this sentence?
Yes, you can! Both więc and zatem mean "so" or "therefore" and are used to show a consequence. However, więc is much more common in everyday speech, while zatem sounds a bit more formal or logical. Notice that in Polish, you always need a comma before więc or zatem when joining two parts of a sentence like this.
Why is it prądu instead of the basic form prąd? Doesn't the machine need a direct object?
In English, "electricity" is a direct object, but the Polish verb potrzebować (to need) always requires the thing being needed to be in the Genitive case. That is why the masculine noun prąd takes the Genitive ending -u to become prądu.
How does proszę sprawdzić work here to mean "please check"?
Using the word proszę (please / I ask) followed directly by an infinitive verb like sprawdzić (to check) is the standard way to make a polite, formal request in Polish. If you were speaking informally to a friend, you would use the direct imperative form instead: więc sprawdź ten kabel.
Why don't the words ten kabel change their endings?
The verb sprawdzić takes the Accusative case because "this cable" is the direct object being checked. However, because kabel is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living object), its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic Nominative dictionary form. The word ten also stays the same for this reason.
Learn Maszyna potrzebuje prądu, więc proszę sprawdzić ten kabel 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