Breakdown of Każdy spadkobierca dostał po domu.
dom
house
dostać
to get
każdy
every, each; everyone
spadkobierca
the heir
po
each (distributive)
Questions & Answers about Każdy spadkobierca dostał po domu.
Why use po domu here instead of just saying dostał dom?
The preposition po is used here in its distributive sense to mean one of something each. While dostał dom just means got a house, adding po strongly emphasizes the distribution: they received exactly one house per person.
Which case does the preposition po take in this sentence?
In this distributive meaning, po requires the Locative case. The Locative form of dom is domu. Notice that po can take other cases for different meanings, such as the Accusative when it means going to get something, but for distributing items it is always paired with the Locative.
The noun spadkobierca ends in -a. Why does it use the masculine forms każdy and dostał?
Spadkobierca (heir) is a masculine personal noun, despite ending in -a. Just like mężczyzna (man) or kierowca (driver), it takes masculine adjectives, pronouns, and past tense verbs.
Could we use the word jeden (one) in this sentence to show they got one house each?
Yes, you could say Każdy spadkobierca dostał jeden dom, which is grammatically correct and means almost the same thing. However, using po plus the Locative case is a very natural, idiomatic Polish way to express that a specific quantity was distributed to each individual in a group.
Learn Każdy spadkobierca dostał po domu 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