Breakdown of Proszę odpoczywać, dopóki pan nie wyzdrowieje.
pan
sir / Mr.
nie
no / not
odpoczywać
to rest
proszę
please; here you are
dopóki
as long as / until
wyzdrowieć
to recover
Questions & Answers about Proszę odpoczywać, dopóki pan nie wyzdrowieje.
Why is there a nie before wyzdrowieje when the English translation has no negative word?
In Polish, to express 'until' a specific event happens, we use dopóki nie followed by a perfective verb. This is known as pleonastic (extra) negation. Even though nie is present, the meaning remains positive: 'until you actually recover.'
Why is wyzdrowieje used here instead of an imperfective verb?
Wyzdrowieje is the perfective future tense of wyzdrowieć (to recover). When using dopóki nie to mean 'until', you must use a perfective verb because you are waiting for a specific, completed result in the future.
Why does the verb wyzdrowieje not have a standard 'you' ending like -esz?
The sentence uses the formal pan (sir) for 'you'. In Polish, formal pronouns like pan and pani always take the third-person singular form of the verb. Therefore, it uses wyzdrowieje (literally 'he recovers') instead of the informal second-person wyzdrowiejesz.
Why is odpoczywać left in the infinitive form?
Using proszę followed by an infinitive like odpoczywać is a very common and polite way to give a command or instruction in Polish. It translates directly to 'Please rest.'
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