Breakdown of Pije się wodę, a nie kalorie.
nie
no / not
pić
to drink
się
oneself
a
and / whereas (contrast)
woda
water
kaloria
calorie
Questions & Answers about Pije się wodę, a nie kalorie.
Who exactly is the subject in pije się?
There isn't a specific person. This is the impersonal się construction. By combining a 3rd-person singular verb (pije) with się, it expresses a general rule or habit, translating to "one drinks", "people drink", or the general "you drink".
Since there's no real subject, why is wodę in the accusative case? Doesn't the sentence mean "Water is drunk"?
This construction is still active, not passive. The imaginary "one" or "people" is doing the drinking, so the verb pić (to drink) still needs a direct object in the accusative case. That is why woda becomes wodę.
Why do we use a in a nie kalorie instead of just i nie or ale nie?
The word a is a contrastive conjunction. It sits right between i (and) and ale (but). We use a nie to clearly contrast two things in a sentence, meaning "and not" or "but rather not". Here, it sets up a direct contrast between water and calories.
What case is kalorie in this sentence?
It is in the accusative plural, matching the case of wodę because it is the second part of the direct object. For a feminine noun like kaloria, the accusative plural looks exactly the same as the nominative plural (kalorie).
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