Breakdown of Możemy zacząć wymianę ubrań, byleby ubrania nie miały przetarć.
mieć
to have
nie
not
móc
can
ubranie
the clothing
Questions & Answers about Możemy zacząć wymianę ubrań, byleby ubrania nie miały przetarć.
What does byleby mean here?
Byleby means as long as, provided that, or so long as.
It introduces a condition that must be met:
- Możemy zacząć wymianę ubrań = we can start the clothing exchange
- byleby ubrania nie miały przetarć = as long as the clothes do not have worn spots
It is a very common Polish way to express a condition. A more formal alternative would be pod warunkiem że.
Why is the verb miały instead of mają?
After byleby, Polish normally uses a verb form that looks like the past tense, but here it does not mean past time.
So:
- mają = they have
- miały = a form used here after byleby to express a condition
Also, ubrania is a non-masculine plural noun, so the correct plural form is miały, not mieli.
So byleby ubrania nie miały przetarć means as long as the clothes don't have any worn spots, not as long as the clothes didn't have...
Why is it wymianę, not wymiana?