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  What it means

  Literally “what second,” this phrase functions as a distributive expression meaning “every other” or “every second.” It always precedes a noun and indicates alternation: ‘co drugi dzień’ means ’every other day,’ and ‘co drugi człowiek’ means ’every other person.’ It is one of a family of similar constructions in Polish: ‘co trzeci’ (every third), ‘co piąty’ (every fifth), and so on.

  Vocabulary

  • co — every, what (distributive particle)
  • drugi — second, other (ordinal adjective)

  Grammar note

  In the distributive construction 'co + ordinal numeral,' the ordinal adjective agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies. For example: 'co drugi dzień' (masculine), 'co druga osoba' (feminine), 'co drugie dziecko' (neuter). This construction is used with any ordinal: co trzeci, co piąty, etc.

  Cultural context

  This is a high-frequency, neutral phrase found in everyday conversation, journalism, and statistics. It is equivalent to English 'every other' or 'every second.' There is no colloquial or formal variation — it is the standard way to express alternation in Polish.

  Beginner

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