"Odpowiadam na pytanie."
Translation:I am answering the question.
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Why do we use "na" if the question doesn't translate as "I answer to the question" ? I guess I am asking what is the difference between this sentence and "Odpowiadam pytanie" because isnt the "the" dropped in Polish? Is it just a grammar thing?
Well, grammatically the prepositions (or the lack of it here) very often don't correspond between languages. It is quite normal that in one language some construction needs "at" and in the other it needs what is equivalent to "by", for example. There is no other explanation.
"Odpowiadam pytanie" doesn't make any sense. In Polish you just answer "na pytanie".
To, on, about, Are the possible translations given in this sentence for( Na) and yet (The) is the correct choice. It doesn't get any easier does it!
I guess it's probably a good idea to remember verbs and the associated case/preposition together instead of the preposition alone. Polish doesn't have 'the' and the sentence can also be translated to "I'm answering a question".
I know it's been a while since you asked this, but "I answer to the question" makes no sense in English unless, as tj says, you report to a higher authority, whose name is "the question".
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Think of it as "responding to a question" or "replying to a question". Then it makes sense :)
Your answer means that you have a habit to answer one specific question - doesn't make sense, at least to me.
- 3044
"I answer the question" suggests a habit like you say. But "answering to" something/someone means you follow their orders, like you answer to your boss.
Why is I am answering a question wrong? Thanks in advance for the future answer!
I can only once again confirm that it's on our list of accepted answers, if it was rejected for you, we'd need a screenshot to investigate.
‘I am responding to’ works better here: it includes the Polish ‘na’ | English ‘to’ and is standard US English. Responding is also a supplied hint. :)
I checked it and all the voices play fine on my end, so I hope it just was some temporary error.
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is "pytanie" dative? I thought that odpowiedać took the dative, unless you use it with za to mean responsibility. Does the preposition "na" alter the case, because I seem to remember "na"takes the locative or accusative (if there is movement)
It's not a stupid question :)
"pytanie" is in Accusative here, but that's rather due to "na", or perhaps better to say, due to "odpowiadać na".
Usually "odpowiadać" takes Dative, but apart from this very construction here, you usually use it with people, when you "answer someone/reply to someone". That's when you use Dative.