Breakdown of Nie widzimy profili pana Zielińskiego i pana Kowalskiego.
i
and
pan
sir / Mr.
nie
no / not
widzieć
to see
Kowalski
Kowalski
profil
profile
Zieliński
Zieliński
Questions & Answers about Nie widzimy profili pana Zielińskiego i pana Kowalskiego.
Why do the masculine surnames end in -ego (Zielińskiego, Kowalskiego)?
Masculine surnames ending in -ski decline exactly like regular Polish adjectives. Since the sentence uses the Genitive case to show possession (meaning the profiles of Mr. Zieliński), the surname takes the masculine Genitive adjective ending -ego.
How would this sentence change if we were talking about Mrs. Zielińska and Mrs. Kowalska?
Feminine surnames ending in -ska decline like feminine adjectives, which take the -ej ending in the Genitive case. The word for Mrs. (pani) does not change in the Genitive, so the phrase would become pani Zielińskiej i pani Kowalskiej.
Why is the word for profiles (profili) in the Genitive case instead of the Accusative?
The verb widzieć (to see) usually takes the Accusative case. However, whenever you negate a verb in Polish with nie, its direct object automatically switches to the Genitive case. Because there are multiple profiles, we use the Genitive plural form profili.
Why does the word pan change to pana here?
In Polish, titles like pan (Mr.) must decline alongside the person's name to match the grammatical case. Because the surnames are in the Genitive case, the title must also take its Genitive form, which is pana.
Learn Nie widzimy profili pana Zielińskiego i pana Kowalskiego and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free