Breakdown of Ktoś musi to załatwić do dwudziestego pierwszego maja.
to
this
musieć
to have to
do
to
pierwszy
first
maj
May
ktoś
somebody
dwudziesty
twentieth
załatwić
to sort out
Questions & Answers about Ktoś musi to załatwić do dwudziestego pierwszego maja.
The lesson is about using dopóki nie for 'until'. Why does this sentence use do instead?
We use dopóki nie when 'until' is followed by an action or a whole clause (like 'until he arrives'). When 'until' or 'by' is followed by a noun, time, or date (like 'May 21st'), we just use the preposition do followed by the Genitive case.
What does załatwić mean, and why is it perfective here?
Załatwić is an extremely common verb meaning to get something done, handle an official matter, or sort out a problem. It is perfective here because the sentence focuses on successfully finishing the task by the deadline, not the ongoing process of working on it.
Why are both parts of the number in dwudziestego pierwszego in the Genitive case?
The preposition do requires the Genitive case. For days of the month, the number acts like an adjective (the 'twenty-first' day). Because it is a compound ordinal number, both the tens (dwudziestego) and the units (pierwszego) must take the Genitive ending -ego.
Why is the month maja also in the Genitive?
In Polish dates, the month is always in the Genitive case. You can think of it as literally meaning 'the twenty-first day of May', which naturally requires the Genitive form maja.
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