Breakdown of Właściciel musi zawsze trzymać psa na smyczy.
pies
dog
zawsze
always
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
musieć
to have to
właściciel
owner
trzymać
to hold, to keep
smycz
leash
Questions & Answers about Właściciel musi zawsze trzymać psa na smyczy.
The lesson is about the impersonal word wolno, but this sentence uses musi. How would the grammar change if we used wolno instead?
The verb musi is personal, so its subject właściciel is in the basic nominative case. Impersonal words like wolno require the person experiencing the rule to be in the dative case. If the owner was allowed to do something, it would be Właścicielowi wolno...
Why is the word for dog psa here instead of pies?
The dog is the direct object of the verb trzymać (to keep), so it needs to be in the accusative case. Because pies is a masculine animate noun (a living creature), its accusative form looks exactly the same as its genitive form, which is psa.
What case is smyczy in the phrase na smyczy, and why?
It is in the locative case. The preposition na takes the locative when describing a state or static position (being on a leash). The noun smycz is feminine despite ending in a consonant, and such nouns typically take an -y or -i ending in the locative case.
Could we use a perfective verb instead of the imperfective trzymać?
No, because the word zawsze (always) dictates that this is a continuous, habitual rule rather than a single completed action. Habitual actions always require imperfective verbs in Polish.
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