Breakdown of Rękaw jest zbyt długi, krawiec skróci mi go dzisiaj.
być
to be
dzisiaj
today
mi
to me
go
him / it
długi
long
zbyt
too / excessively
krawiec
tailor
rękaw
sleeve
skrócić
to shorten
Questions & Answers about Rękaw jest zbyt długi, krawiec skróci mi go dzisiaj.
Why is it mi go and not go mi?
When stacking short pronouns in Polish, there is a strict order. Dative pronouns (indirect objects like mi) must come before Accusative or Reflexive pronouns (direct objects like go or się). Since mi means "for me" and go means "it", they must form the cluster mi go.
Could I put mi go at the end of the sentence, like krawiec skróci dzisiaj mi go?
You should avoid doing that. A major rule of Polish word order is that short pronouns like mi, cię, go, or się should not be placed at the absolute beginning or the absolute end of a sentence if it can be avoided. By placing the adverb dzisiaj at the end, the pronouns safely hide in the middle of the clause right after the verb.
The noun rękaw is masculine inanimate. Since masculine inanimate nouns don't change form in the Accusative, shouldn't the pronoun just be on instead of go?
This is a very common trap! While masculine inanimate nouns like rękaw or stół do look identical in the Nominative and Accusative cases, personal pronouns do not follow this rule. The Accusative form of on is always go, regardless of whether it refers to a person, an animal, or a thing.
Is the verb skróci perfective or imperfective?
It is perfective. Skrócić describes the one-time, completed action of making the sleeve shorter. Because it is perfective, its present-tense conjugation skróci automatically translates to the future tense, meaning "will shorten".
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