Breakdown of Ponieważ byłem chory, muszę usprawiedliwić swoją nieobecność.
być
to be
musieć
to have to
chory
sick
swój
one's own
ponieważ
because (formal)
usprawiedliwić
to excuse
nieobecność
the absence
Questions & Answers about Ponieważ byłem chory, muszę usprawiedliwić swoją nieobecność.
Why start the sentence with Ponieważ instead of Bo?
In Polish, bo (because) is almost never used at the absolute beginning of a sentence. When you want to start a sentence with Since or Because, you should use ponieważ. You can still use ponieważ in the middle of a sentence, but it sounds a bit more formal than bo.
Why does it say swoją nieobecność instead of moją nieobecność?
Swoją is the reflexive possessive pronoun meaning one's own. Whenever the owner is also the subject of the clause (here, I am the subject who must excuse the absence, and it is my absence), Polish strongly prefers using a form of swój. Using moją wouldn't be completely wrong here, but swoją is much more natural.
The word usprawiedliwić looks really long. How can I break it down to remember it?
It helps to look at the root. It comes from prawda (truth) and prawy (right or just). Sprawiedliwy means fair or just, so usprawiedliwić literally means to make something just or to justify. In the context of school or work, it means to provide a valid excuse for being away.
What case is swoją nieobecność in here, and why didn't the noun ending change?
It is in the Accusative case because it is the direct object of usprawiedliwić. Nieobecność is a feminine noun ending in a consonant. For these types of feminine nouns, the Accusative form is exactly the same as the Nominative (dictionary) form. You can tell it is Accusative because the pronoun modifying it, swoją, took the feminine Accusative ending -ą.
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