Breakdown of Kran będzie przeciekać, chyba że zakręcisz zawór.
być
to be
chyba że
unless
kran
tap
przeciekać
to leak
zakręcić
to turn off (a tap, water)
zawór
valve
Questions & Answers about Kran będzie przeciekać, chyba że zakręcisz zawór.
English uses the present tense after "unless" ("unless you turn off"). Why does Polish use the future tense zakręcisz?
In English, conditional words like "if" and "unless" use the present tense even when referring to the future. Polish is more literal here: since turning off the valve is a future action, you must use a future tense verb. Zakręcisz is the perfective future tense of the verb meaning "to turn off".
Does chyba że literally translate to "probably that"?
Literally, yes! Chyba usually means "probably" or "I guess", and że means "that". However, as a fixed phrase, chyba że always means "unless".
Can I say będzie przeciekał instead of będzie przeciekać?
Yes, absolutely! To build the future tense of an imperfective verb, you use the future form of "to be" (będzie) plus either the infinitive (przeciekać) or the third-person past tense form (przeciekał for masculine inanimate). Both are completely correct and mean the exact same thing.
The word for valve is zawór. Why doesn't its ending change here since it is the direct object?
It actually is in the accusative case here, which is the required case for a direct object. However, zawór is an inanimate masculine noun. For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative form is identical to the nominative (dictionary) form, so its spelling doesn't change.
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