Breakdown of Parking został zamknięty przez policjanta po wypadku.
po
after
policjant
the police officer
parking
the parking lot
zostać zamknięty
to be closed
przez
by
wypadek
the accident
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Parking został zamknięty przez policjanta po wypadku.
Why is został zamknięty used here instead of simply zamknięto or another form of the verb?
Został zamknięty is the regular passive voice in Polish, formed with the auxiliary zostać plus the passive participle zamknięty. It lets you later specify the agent (przez policjanta). Zamknięto is an impersonal passive (often called the 3rd-person singular impersonal form) that means “one/they closed” and does not allow you to name who did it.
What case is parking in, and why?
Parking is in the nominative singular case because it is the grammatical subject of the sentence (the thing being closed). In Polish, the subject of a finite verb is in the nominative.
Why is policjanta used after przez, and what case is it?
The preposition przez requires the accusative case when marking the agent in a passive construction. So policjant becomes policjanta (accusative singular). Note that even though English uses “by the policeman,” Polish uses przez + accusative for passive agents.
What role does po wypadku play, and what case is wypadku?
Po wypadku means “after the accident.” The preposition po governs the locative case, so wypadek changes to wypadku (locative singular). This phrase indicates the time when the closing happened.
Could we omit przez policjanta if we don’t care who closed the parking?
Yes. If the agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious, you can say Parking został zamknięty po wypadku. That keeps the passive focus on the event and timing without naming who did it.
Why is the participle zamknięty masculine singular, and would it change with a different subject?
Past participles in Polish agree in gender and number with the subject. Parking is masculine singular, so we use zamknięty. If the subject were feminine (e.g. ulica), you’d say Ulica została zamknięta (feminine singular zamknięta).
Can we change the word order? For example, start with Po wypadku?
Yes. Polish word order is relatively flexible. You can say Po wypadku parking został zamknięty przez policjanta to emphasize the timing. The meaning stays the same; you only shift the emphasis.
What’s the difference between using został and był to form a passive in Polish?
Both został and był + participle can form a passive, but there’s a nuance. Został highlights the occurrence of an action (it happened), often fitting news or reports. Był zamknięty is more descriptive, stating a past state (“it was closed”) without focusing on the event itself. In your sentence, został zamknięty tells us “the parking got closed” at a certain moment.