Breakdown of Poszliśmy do sklepu, żeby sprawdzić, czy katalog jest zwrócony.
być
to be
sklep
shop
do
to
sprawdzić
to check
żeby
so that, in order to
pójść
to go (on foot)
czy
whether / if (indirect question)
zwrócić
to return (give something back)
katalog
catalog
Questions & Answers about Poszliśmy do sklepu, żeby sprawdzić, czy katalog jest zwrócony.
Why is it jest zwrócony instead of został zwrócony?
Why does the sentence use czy for 'if'? Can I use jeśli?
You must use czy here because it means 'whether' (to check whether the catalog is returned). The word jeśli is only used for conditional 'if' statements, like 'If it rains, we will go home.'
Why do we need żeby before sprawdzić?
In Polish, to express purpose ('in order to do something'), you use żeby followed by an infinitive. Żeby sprawdzić is the standard way to translate the English 'to check' when it actually means 'in order to check'.
Why does the participle zwrócony end in -y?
Passive participles like zwrócony act just like adjectives and must agree with the noun they describe. Katalog is a masculine noun in the nominative case, so zwrócony takes the standard masculine singular ending -y.
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