Breakdown of Wczoraj powiedziano nam, że wykład przeniesiono.
wczoraj
yesterday
że
that
powiedzieć
to say
nam
us
Questions & Answers about Wczoraj powiedziano nam, że wykład przeniesiono.
Why is there no subject in this Polish sentence?
Polish often uses the impersonal -no/-to construction to avoid naming an agent. In Wczoraj powiedziano nam, że wykład przeniesiono, both powiedziano and przeniesiono are impersonal past forms meaning “someone/they did X” or “it was done.” This is natural when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context. Rough English equivalents are “We were told…” and “The lecture was moved.”
How can I say the same thing without using the -no/-to form?
Two common options:
- Active, unspecified “they”: Wczoraj powiedzieli nam, że przenieśli wykład. (“They told us that they moved the lecture.”)
- Periphrastic passive with zostać: Wczoraj powiedzieli nam, że wykład został przeniesiony. (“…that the lecture was moved.”)
What’s the difference between -no and -to? Why do we get powiedziano and przeniesiono, not -to?
The choice reflects the type of passive participle the verb would have:
- Verbs with a -ny participle yield -no: powiedziany → powiedziano, przeniesiony → przeniesiono.
- Verbs with a -ty participle yield -to: zamknięty → zamknięto, wzięty → wzięto. You don’t inflect -no/-to for gender or number; it’s always neuter singular in form and impersonal in meaning.
Does wczoraj refer to when we were told, or when the lecture was moved?