Breakdown of Szefowa miała odpisać na wiadomość, więc to chyba pomyłka, że nie ma odpowiedzi.
to
this
nie
no / not
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
szefowa
boss (f)
że
that
odpowiedź
answer
więc
so, therefore
wiadomość
message / news
chyba
probably, I think
mieć
to be supposed to
odpisać
to write back
pomyłka
mistake (slip-up)
Questions & Answers about Szefowa miała odpisać na wiadomość, więc to chyba pomyłka, że nie ma odpowiedzi.
Why does miała odpisać mean "was supposed to write back" instead of "had to write back"?
In Polish, using the past tense of mieć (here, miała) followed by an infinitive (odpisać) is the standard way to say someone "was supposed to" do something. It expresses an expectation or a plan that usually didn't happen. If she strictly "had to" do it, you would use the verb musieć instead, making it musiała odpisać.
Why do we use na in odpisać na wiadomość?
The verb odpisać (to reply / to write back) requires the preposition na when you want to mention the thing you are replying to. It is followed by the accusative case. Because wiadomość (message) is a feminine noun ending in a consonant, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary form.
How does chyba affect the meaning of to chyba pomyłka?
The word chyba is a very common word that means "probably," "I think," or "I guess." It shows that the speaker is making a strong assumption but isn't completely certain. It softens the statement from "it is a mistake" to "it is probably a mistake."
Why is the final word odpowiedzi and not odpowiedź?
The clause uses the phrase nie ma (there is no), and in Polish, nie ma always requires the following noun to be in the genitive case. The basic dictionary form is odpowiedź (answer), but it changes to odpowiedzi in the genitive.
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