Breakdown of Chcę kupić ten smartfon, jednak jakość jego ekranu jest gorsza.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
chcieć
to want
kupić
to buy (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Chcę kupić ten smartfon, jednak jakość jego ekranu jest gorsza.
How is jednak used differently from ale (but) in this sentence?
Jednak translates to however and creates a slightly stronger or more formal contrast than ale. While ale must sit directly between the two clauses, jednak is more flexible. Here it immediately follows the comma, but you could also move it later in the clause, such as ...jakość jego ekranu jest jednak gorsza.
Both smartfon and ekran are masculine. Why is the adjective gorsza (worse) in the feminine form?
The adjective describes the noun jakość (quality), which is the actual subject of the second clause. Even though it ends in a soft consonant instead of the typical -a, jakość is a feminine noun, so the adjective must take the feminine form to match it.
Why do we use jego (his) when referring to an inanimate object like a smartphone?
In Polish, jego is the possessive pronoun for both masculine and neuter nouns, regardless of whether they are alive. Because smartfon is grammatically masculine, we use jego to mean its. The phrase jego ekranu is in the Genitive case because we are talking about the quality of its screen.
The verb kupić requires the Accusative case. Why does ten smartfon look like it is in the Nominative (dictionary) case?
It is actually in the Accusative case! For inanimate masculine nouns like smartfon, the Accusative form is identical to the Nominative form. Only masculine nouns that are people or animals change their endings here.