Breakdown of Biblioteka została zamknięta wczoraj wieczorem.
wieczorem
in the evening
wczoraj
yesterday
biblioteka
the library
zostać zamknięty
to be closed
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Questions & Answers about Biblioteka została zamknięta wczoraj wieczorem.
What grammatical structure is została zamknięta?
“Została zamknięta” is a past‐tense passive construction. It uses the auxiliary zostać in its 3rd person feminine singular past form (została) plus the past passive participle zamknięta (from zamknąć). Together they mean “was closed.”
Why is Biblioteka in the nominative case rather than accusative?
In an active sentence you’d say Ktoś zamknął bibliotekę (“Someone closed the library”), where bibliotekę is accusative. In the passive voice that object becomes the grammatical subject and takes the nominative case, hence Biblioteka została zamknięta.
How is the participle zamknięta formed, and why does it end in -ta?
The past passive participle of a perfective verb like zamknąć is formed by adding -ny or -ty to the verb stem (here zamkn- → zamknię-ty). Because it’s an adjective‐like form it must agree in gender, number and case with the subject. Biblioteka is feminine singular nominative, so we get zamknięta.
What’s the difference between using zostać and być in passive sentences, e.g. została vs była?
Być + participle (e.g. biblioteka była zamknięta) describes a state or condition (“the library was (in a) closed state”). Zostać + participle (e.g. biblioteka została zamknięta) emphasizes the action or event of closing (“the library got closed”).
What parts of speech are wczoraj and wieczorem in this sentence?
Both are adverbial time expressions. Wczoraj means “yesterday” and functions as an adverb, while wieczorem is a noun in the instrumental (used adverbially) meaning “in the evening.”
Why are there two words for time, wczoraj wieczorem?
Together they specify when the action happened: “yesterday evening.” You need both to narrow it down to the evening of the previous day, not just any time yesterday.
Can the word order be changed in this sentence?
Yes. Polish has relatively free word order. You could say Wczoraj wieczorem biblioteka została zamknięta or Biblioteka wczoraj wieczorem została zamknięta without changing the basic meaning. Moving elements can add emphasis (e.g. fronting wczoraj wieczorem stresses the time).
How would you express who closed the library if you wanted the agent?
You’d add przez + instrumental. For example:
Biblioteka została zamknięta przez władze miasta.
(“The library was closed by the city authorities.”)
Is there an alternative passive form like zamknięto bibliotekę?
Yes. Bibliotekę zamknięto wczoraj wieczorem uses the impersonal passive 3rd person singular perfective form zamknięto. The library stays in the accusative, and the sentence means roughly the same, though it focuses more on reporting the action than on the library as the topic.