Breakdown of Szyję na miarę, a ten garnitur bardzo mi się podoba.
ten
this (m)
bardzo
very
a
and / whereas (contrast)
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
podobać się
to appeal / to like (aesthetically, first impressions)
mi
to me
garnitur
suit
szyć
to sew
miara
measure
Questions & Answers about Szyję na miarę, a ten garnitur bardzo mi się podoba.
Why is the order mi się instead of się mi?
When you have multiple short pronouns (clitics) next to each other, Polish has a specific order. The Dative pronoun (like mi, meaning "to me") almost always comes before the Reflexive pronoun (się) or Accusative pronouns (cię, go). That is why we say mi się podoba rather than the other way around.
Could I put the pronouns at the very end and say ten garnitur bardzo podoba mi się?
You should avoid doing that. Short pronouns like mi and się are "weak" words that should not sit at the absolute end or the absolute beginning of a sentence. Tucking them safely in the middle, right before the verb (mi się podoba), sounds much more natural to a Polish ear.
In the second part, why is the verb podoba used instead of podobam if the English translation says "I like"?
In Polish, you do not actively "like" something. Instead, the thing is "pleasing" to you. The grammatical subject of the second clause is ten garnitur (this suit), which is why the verb is in the third-person singular form podoba. You are just the receiver of the action, expressed by the Dative pronoun mi (to me).
Why is the word a used to mean "and" here instead of i?
The word a is often used to show a slight contrast or to introduce a related but shifting thought, somewhat like "and yet" or "whereas". While i simply adds two identical things together, a acts as a soft bridge between the speaker's general profession (szyję na miarę) and their specific opinion about this one particular suit.
What does the phrase na miarę mean, and what case is it using?
The noun miara means "measure" or "measurement". When combined with the preposition na followed by the Accusative case, it creates the set phrase na miarę. This translates to "made to measure" or "custom-made".
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