Breakdown of Ich zaręczyny były w niedzielę.
być
to be
w niedzielę
on Sunday
ich
their
zaręczyny
the engagement
Questions & Answers about Ich zaręczyny były w niedzielę.
Why is zaręczyny plural? In English, engagement is singular.
In Polish, zaręczyny is normally a plural-only noun (pluralia tantum). So even though English says engagement in the singular, Polish treats this idea as plural.
That affects the whole sentence:
- zaręczyny = engagement
- but grammatically it behaves like a plural noun
So Polish says:
- Ich zaręczyny były... = literally Their engagement were..., but naturally translated as Their engagement was...
This is just one of those nouns you need to learn as plural in Polish.
Why is the verb były and not była or było?
Because the subject zaręczyny is grammatically plural.
The past tense of być (to be) agrees with the subject in number, and in the plural it also reflects grammatical gender category:
- byli = masculine-personal plural
- były = non-masculine-personal plural
Since zaręczyny is not a masculine-personal noun, the correct form is były.
So:
- Ich zaręczyny były w niedzielę.
not:
- Ich zaręczyny była...
- Ich zaręczyny było...
What does ich mean here?