Ona była w parku w zeszłym miesiącu.

She was in the park last month.

Breakdown of Ona była w parku w zeszłym miesiącu.

• być: to be
• ona: she
• w: in
• park: the park
• w zeszłym miesiącu: last month

Questions & Answers about Ona była w parku w zeszłym miesiącu.

What’s the role of the word Ona in this sentence?

Ona is the personal pronoun “she.” Polish is a pro-drop language, so you could omit it if context makes the subject clear (e.g. Była w parku…). Including Ona here either clarifies who you’re talking about or adds emphasis: “It was she who was in the park last month.”

How do you form the past tense of być, and why is it była here?

The past tense for Polish verbs uses a stem plus endings that agree in gender and number. For być (to be), the stem is by- and the endings for singular are: • -łem/ -łam (I m./ f.)
• -ś (you sg.)
• -ł/ -ła (he/she)
So był = “he was,” and była = “she was.” The -a ending shows feminine singular.

Why is it w parku and not w park or do parku?

1. w meaning “in” (static location) requires the locative case.
2. The locative of park is parku (root park-
   • -u).
3. If you used do (“to”), you’d indicate motion (“to the park”) and then need the accusative case (do parku uses the same form but with a different sense).

How do you decide which case to use after the preposition w?

• Location (gdzie? – where?): use the locative case (e.g. w domu, w parku).
• Direction (dokąd? – where to?): use the accusative case with do or na (e.g. do domu, na uczelnię).

What is w zeszłym miesiącu grammatically, and why are both words in these forms?

This phrase marks time (“in last month”).

• w + locative: time expressions use the locative, so miesiąc becomes miesiącu (root miesiąc-
  • -u).
• zeszły is an adjective meaning “last.” In masculine singular locative it’s zeszłym (root zeszł-
  • -ym).

Could I say Miesiąc temu była w parku instead? Is there a nuance?

Yes. miesiąc temu = “a month ago.” Both express “She was in the park last month,” but:

• w zeszłym miesiącu refers to “in the previous calendar month.”
• miesiąc temu counts back 30 days.
  You can also say Była w parku miesiąc temu (more common word order).

Is the word order fixed? Could I start with W zeszłym miesiącu instead?

Polish word order is flexible. Starting with the time phrase—W zeszłym miesiącu ona była w parku—is natural and simply shifts the emphasis onto when rather than who or where.