Questions & Answers about Musisz przestać jeść słodycze.
Why is the imperfective verb jeść used after przestać instead of the perfective zjeść?
Verbs that indicate starting, finishing, or stopping an action (like przestać) must always be followed by an imperfective infinitive. This is because you are stopping an ongoing, continuous habit or process. You can't stop a completed action!
Why is the first infinitive, przestać, in the perfective form?
The modal verb musisz (you must) can take either aspect. We use the perfective przestać here because the speaker wants a definite, one-time change: you stop, and it's done. Using the imperfective przestawać would mean "you must be in the process of stopping," which is much less direct.
Is it common to have two infinitives in a row like przestać jeść?
Yes, this is a standard verb chain. We start with a conjugated modal verb (musisz), followed by the first infinitive (przestać). Because przestać needs another verb to explain what is being stopped, we naturally add a second infinitive (jeść).
What case is słodycze in this sentence?
It is in the accusative case, acting as the direct object of the verb jeść. For non-masculine plural nouns like this, the accusative looks exactly the same as the nominative. Note that when talking about candy, Polish almost always uses this plural form rather than the singular słodycz (which usually translates to "sweetness").
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