Breakdown of Głuchy człowiek nie słyszy dźwięków, natomiast dobrze widzi kształty.
nie
no / not
dobrze
well
widzieć
to see
słyszeć
to hear
człowiek
person, human
natomiast
whereas, by contrast
dźwięk
sound
głuchy
deaf
kształt
shape
Questions & Answers about Głuchy człowiek nie słyszy dźwięków, natomiast dobrze widzi kształty.
Why is it dźwięków (Genitive) but kształty (Accusative)?
This is the Genitive of negation in action! Both the verbs słyszeć (to hear) and widzieć (to see) normally take the Accusative case. A positive sentence would be słyszy dźwięki and widzi kształty. However, because the first part of the sentence is negated with nie, its direct object changes to the Genitive case, making it dźwięków. The second part is positive, so kształty stays in the Accusative.
How do we form the plural endings for dźwięk and kształt?
Both dźwięk (sound) and kształt (shape) are masculine inanimate nouns. For the Accusative plural, they take the -y or -i ending, giving us dźwięki and kształty. For the Genitive plural, masculine nouns ending in a hard consonant usually take the -ów ending, resulting in dźwięków.
What exactly does natomiast mean, and can I just use ale?
You could use ale (but), but natomiast is a great B1-level word that means whereas, on the other hand, or while. It highlights a contrast between two situations, which in this sentence is the inability to hear versus the ability to see. It sounds a bit more formal and precise than just using ale.
How would I add "with ears" and "with eyes" to this sentence, considering those body parts have irregular plurals?
You would use the Instrumental case for the body part being used as a tool. For irregular body parts from the historical dual number, the plural Instrumental endings are unique. Seeing with your eyes is oczami (from the plural oczy), and hearing with your ears is uszami (from the plural uszy). So you could say: Głuchy człowiek nie słyszy uszami, natomiast dobrze widzi oczami.
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