Breakdown of Proszę spróbować znaleźć kombinację, może uda nam się otworzyć kłódkę.
znaleźć
to find
otworzyć
to open
może
maybe, perhaps
proszę
please; here you are
nam
us (dative)
spróbować
to try
udać się
to succeed, to work out (udało się)
kombinacja
combination
kłódka
padlock
Questions & Answers about Proszę spróbować znaleźć kombinację, może uda nam się otworzyć kłódkę.
Why do we use uda nam się instead of a regular subject like "my udamy się"?
When meaning "to manage to do something" or "to succeed," the verb udać się is used impersonally. Instead of saying "We will manage," Polish phrases it as "It will manage itself to us." That is why the verb is in the "it" form (uda) and the person who succeeds is in the Dative case, which is nam ("to us").
Is the verb uda present or future tense here?
It is future tense! The verb udać się is perfective, meaning it focuses on the completed result. In Polish, when you conjugate a perfective verb like it is in the present tense, it actually talks about the future. So, uda nam się means "we will manage to." To say "we are managing" right now, you would use its imperfective partner: udaje nam się.
Why is nam placed right between uda and się?
Polish word order is flexible, but short pronouns have strong preferences. Short Dative pronouns like nam usually avoid being the very last word in a sentence, and the reflexive pronoun się hates being at the very beginning or the very end of a clause. Tucking the pronoun between the verb and się (as in uda nam się) is the most natural rhythm for a native speaker.
Can you stack two infinitives next to each other like in Proszę spróbować znaleźć?
Yes! The word proszę is frequently used with an infinitive to make a polite command or request, here spróbować (to try). Because the act of trying requires another action, it naturally takes a second infinitive: znaleźć (to find). It chains together exactly like English: "Please try to find."
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