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- "He needs a glass of water."
"He needs a glass of water."
Translation:On potrzebuje szklanki wody.
13 Comments
Here is another case my native polish wife disagrees with. She says that requiring the genitive implies that "potrzebuje" always means "requires the assistance of" rather than just "needs" or "requires". According to her, in some cases genitive is appropriate, but it is situational.
Her example: Potrzebuję dziewczynki - I need a girl['s help] Potrzebuję dziewczynkę - I need a girl [in my life]
As such, she finds "Potrzebuje szklanki wody" very odd as it is difficult to imagine a scenario where you would need help from a glass of water.
Can you explain why her explanation is wrong? Is it really true that "potrzebować" must always be followed by genitive?
Take a look at this dictionary entry: https://www.wsjp.pl/index.php?id_hasla=38673&id_znaczenia=4499712&l=21&ind=0
Click through the "Połączenia", "Cytaty" and "Składnia" tabs. You or your wife will notice that it takes genitive (there represented by the question CZEGO).
For all the different entries for "potrzebować" you can go here: https://www.wsjp.pl/index.php?id_hasla=38673&ind=0&w_szukaj=potrzebować+
For our discussion only entries 1 and 2 are relevant, but still, it's always genitive.
I did notice that some people may use accusative with potrzebować (even I do it sometimes when I'm not careful), but this is not considered correct in formal language, and dictionaries don't even mention it as informal. You might argue that dictionaries should allow it, but until they do, we would rather not teach you that.
While many natives use Accusative with "potrzebować", it does indeed need Genitive. Potrzebować (kogo? czego?) - szklanki.
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Mianownik (M.) - kto? co? (jest) - np. wiatr, misie, szklanka wody Dopełniacz (D.) - kogo? czego? (nie ma) - np. wiatru, misiów, szklanki wody Celownik (C.) - komu? czemu? (się przyglądam) np. wiatrowi, misiom, szklance wody Biernik (B.) - kogo? co? (widzę) np. wiatr, misie, szklankę wody Narzędnik (N.) - (z) kim? (z) czym? (idę) np. (z) wiatrem, misiami, ze szkanką wody Miejscownik (Ms.) - o kim? o czym? (mówię) np. (o) wietrze, misiach, szklance wody, Wołacz (W.) - zwrot do kogoś lub czegoś np. góro! misie! szkalnko wody!
