"Potrzebuję książki."
Translation:I need a book.
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My Polish mother is wondering why książki ends in "i" since that would imply that its plural...instead of ending in "e" which would make it "a book"
Potrzebuję needs Genitive/Dopełniacz/kogo?czego?, but many Polish people use Accusative/Biernik/kogo co? instead (it is a common mistake, but can lead to confusion)
whats the best recourse to remembering genitive, accusative, instrumental...memorizing the phraseology or something else. i mean its tough enough trying to learn the language/words without having to wonder what the hell is what form of the sentence before and after trying to formulate ones thoughts
Yes indeed.
If it helps you, you may think of it as "I have the need of".
That does thanks, is there any way to tell if a verb takes genitive instead of accusative?
Hmmm... Some verbs that denote 'negativity', 'lack of' (nienawidzić = to hate, zapominać = to forget), that's for sure... But frankly, that's mostly memorizing. You can Google "Polish verbs that need Genitive" or even in Polish: "czasowniki łączące się z dopełniaczem", that may result in some lists.
Yes, „nie potrzebuję książki”. Only accusative should be changed to genitive in negation.
"książki". If you consider the main, Nominative version, of course.
Most feminine nouns have the three following cases identical: Genitive singular, Nominative plural, Accusative plural.
As "potrzebować" (to need) takes Genitive, we see that this is Genitive singular here: I need a book.
Genitive plural (I need books) is "książek". "Potrzebuję książek".