Breakdown of Ona płakała z wielkiej radości.
ona
she / it (f)
z
from (+ Genitive)
wielki
great (large, grand)
płakać
to cry
Questions & Answers about Ona płakała z wielkiej radości.
Why does the word radość change to radości in this sentence?
The base word radość (joy) is a feminine noun that ends in a consonant. In this sentence, it needs to be in the genitive case because it follows the preposition z (meaning "from" or "out of"). For feminine nouns ending in -ść, the genitive ending is always -ści.
Wait, doesn't the preposition z mean "with" and use the instrumental case?
It often does! When z means "with", it takes the instrumental case (for example, z bratem meaning "with a brother"). However, when z means "from" or "out of" (like doing something out of an emotion, or coming from a place), it requires the genitive case instead.
Why is the adjective wielkiej instead of the dictionary form wielka?
Adjectives must match the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Since the noun radości is in the feminine genitive form here, the adjective wielka (great) must also take its feminine genitive ending, becoming wielkiej.
Why use the imperfective verb płakała instead of a perfective verb?