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Learn Hardcore Polish: Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne. - Reading this report was difficult.

Hardcore Polish
/Lesson 55
/Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

Reading this report was difficult.

Breakdown of Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

Questions & Answers about Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

What is przeczytanie here?

Przeczytanie is a verbal noun: a noun made from a verb.

It comes from the verb przeczytać = to read through / to finish reading.

So przeczytanie means something like:

the reading of
the act of reading through
finishing reading

In Polish, these forms behave grammatically like nouns, even though they are built from verbs.

Why is it przeczytanie and not czytanie?

This is about aspect, which is very important in Polish verbs.

czytać = imperfective = to read, focusing on the process, habit, or ongoing action
przeczytać = perfective = to read through / read completely

So:

czytanie tego raportu = reading this report, focusing more on the activity/process
przeczytanie tego raportu = reading this report completely / finishing it, focusing on the completed act

In this sentence, przeczytanie suggests that getting through the whole report was difficult.

Why is it tego raportu instead of ten raport?

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Because after a verbal noun like przeczytanie, the thing being acted on is usually put in the genitive case.

So:

verb: przeczytać ten raport = to read this report
verbal noun: przeczytanie tego raportu = the reading of this report

This is a very common pattern in Polish:

napisać list → napisanie listu
zrobić obiad → zrobienie obiadu
przeczytać raport → przeczytanie raportu / tego raportu

So the accusative object of the verb often becomes genitive after the noun form.

What case are tego and raportu?

Both are in the genitive singular.

ten → tego
raport → raportu

That is because they depend on the verbal noun przeczytanie.

Why is it było?

Because przeczytanie is grammatically a neuter singular noun.

In the past tense, być agrees with the subject:

masculine singular: był
feminine singular: była
neuter singular: było

Since the subject is przeczytanie, we get:

Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

Why is it trudne and not trudny or trudna?

Because trudne agrees with przeczytanie, which is neuter singular.

So the adjective must also be neuter singular:

masculine: trudny
feminine: trudna
neuter: trudne

Here, trudne is part of the predicate: was difficult.

Could Polish also say Trudno było przeczytać ten raport?

Yes, absolutely. That is a very natural alternative.

Compare:

Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.
Trudno było przeczytać ten raport.

The meaning is very similar, but the style is a bit different:

Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne sounds a little more nominal and slightly more formal/written
Trudno było przeczytać ten raport sounds more everyday and more directly verbal

So the original sentence is correct and natural, but it is a bit more formal in tone.

Is the word order fixed?

No, Polish word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

Przeczytanie tego raportu było trudne.

But other orders are possible, for example:

Trudne było przeczytanie tego raportu.
Tego raportu przeczytanie było trudne. (possible, but less natural in ordinary speech)

The original version is the most standard and natural.

Does przeczytanie always mean the action was completed?

Usually yes, because it comes from the perfective verb przeczytać.

That means it points to a completed whole event: reading the report through to the end.

If you wanted to focus more on the process itself rather than completion, czytanie would be more likely.

So this sentence does not just mean that being in the middle of reading was difficult; it suggests that getting through the report was difficult.

Is raport a masculine noun?

Yes. Raport is a masculine inanimate noun.

Its singular forms include:

nominative: raport
accusative: raport
genitive: raportu

That is why in this sentence you see raportu.

Can I think of przeczytanie tego raportu as one big noun phrase?

Yes, that is a very good way to think about it.

The whole phrase:

przeczytanie tego raportu

functions as the subject of the sentence.

Then the rest says something about that subject:

było trudne = was difficult

So structurally, it works like:

This task was difficult
Reading this report was difficult

In Polish, the subject just happens to be a verbal noun phrase rather than an ordinary noun.

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