Breakdown of Jego żarty są żenujące, publiczność nie reaguje na nie.
być
to be
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
jego
his, its
żart
joke
reagować
to react
publiczność
the audience
żenujący
embarrassing
nie
them (after a preposition)
Questions & Answers about Jego żarty są żenujące, publiczność nie reaguje na nie.
Why is the pronoun at the end nie instead of je or nich?
The word nie means "them" here, referring to żarty (jokes). Normally, the accusative pronoun for non-masculine-personal plural nouns is je. But after a preposition like na, Polish requires you to use an "n-form", changing je to nie. We don't use nich because that form is strictly for masculine-personal groups (like a group of people including at least one man).
Does the verb reagować (to react) always take the preposition na?
Yes, when you want to say you are reacting "to" something or someone, you use reagować na followed by the accusative case. This is why it triggers the accusative pronoun nie here.
Why does reaguje take the singular form when an audience is made up of many people?
In Polish, collective nouns like publiczność (audience), rodzina (family), or grupa (group) strictly follow their grammatical number. Since publiczność is a singular feminine noun, the verb must also be in the singular form.
How is the word żenujące (embarrassing) formed?
It comes from the verb żenować (to embarrass). You can turn many Polish verbs into adjectives (specifically, active adjectival participles) by adding endings like -ący, -ąca, or -ące. Here, -ące is used to match the non-masculine-personal plural noun żarty.
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