Było tyle dymu, że nie widziałam drzwi.

Było is the neuter singular past form of być (to be), and here it is used in an impersonal/existential way, similar to English there was.

So:

• Było tyle dymu = There was so much smoke

In this kind of sentence, Polish often uses neuter singular było, even though dym is masculine. The focus is not really the smoke was... but rather there was...

Compare:

• Był dym. = There was smoke / Smoke was present
• Było dużo dymu. = There was a lot of smoke

The second structure commonly uses było.

After tyle (so much / this much / so many), Polish usually puts the noun in the genitive.

So:

• dym = nominative singular
• dymu = genitive singular

That is why you get:

• tyle dymu = so much smoke

This is very common with quantity expressions:

• dużo wody = a lot of water
• mało czasu = little time
• ile ludzi? = how many people?
• tyle pieniędzy = so much money / so many funds

Here tyle means so much.

In this sentence, the pattern is:

• tyle ..., że ... = so much ..., that ...

So:

• Było tyle dymu, że... = There was so much smoke that...

By itself, tyle can also mean that much, this much, or so many, depending on context.

Examples:

• Tyle pracuję. = I work this much / so much.
• Tyle osób przyszło. = So many people came.

Że means that and introduces the result clause.

The structure is:

• tyle ..., że ... = so much ..., that ...

So the sentence literally works like:

• There was so much smoke, that I couldn’t see the door.

This is a very common Polish pattern for expressing result:

• Był tak zmęczony, że zasnął. = He was so tired that he fell asleep.
• Mówiła tak cicho, że nic nie słyszałem. = She spoke so quietly that I heard nothing.

Because the speaker is female.

In the past tense, Polish verbs show the gender of the speaker in the 1st person singular:

• widziałem = I saw / I could see said by a man
• widziałam = I saw / I could see said by a woman

So if a male speaker said this sentence, it would be:

• Było tyle dymu, że nie widziałem drzwi.

Polish often omits subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

Here, widziałam already tells us:

• 1st person singular = I
• female speaker

So ja is unnecessary unless you want emphasis.

Compare:

• Nie widziałam drzwi. = I couldn’t see the door.
• Ja nie widziałam drzwi. = I couldn’t see the door. (more emphasis/contrast)

This is normal in Polish.

Drzwi is a plural-only noun in Polish. It means door or doors, but grammatically it behaves like a plural form only.

So even when English says the door, Polish still says drzwi.

Examples:

• Otwórz drzwi. = Open the door.
• Drzwi są zamknięte. = The door is closed.

Other Polish nouns that work similarly include:

• nożyczki = scissors
• spodnie = trousers/pants

The verb widzieć (to see) takes a direct object, usually in the accusative.

For drzwi, the accusative form is the same as the nominative form:

• nominative: drzwi
• accusative: drzwi

So:

• widzieć drzwi = to see the door

Even though the case is accusative, the form does not change.

It can often be understood as either, depending on context.

Literally, it means:

• I didn’t see the door

But in this sentence, because it is caused by the smoke, the natural English meaning is often:

• I couldn’t see the door

So the Polish does not explicitly say couldn’t, but the situation implies inability.

They are similar, but not identical.

• Było tyle dymu = There was so much smoke
  
  • emphasizes quantity
• Był taki dym = There was such smoke / It was so smoky
  
  • sounds more expressive and less neutral, often more colloquial or dramatic depending on context

In your sentence, Było tyle dymu, że... is the most straightforward way to say There was so much smoke that...

Yes, Polish word order is flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others.

Standard, neutral order:

• Było tyle dymu, że nie widziałam drzwi.

You could also say:

• Nie widziałam drzwi, bo było tyle dymu. = I couldn’t see the door because there was so much smoke.

But if you keep the so... that... structure, the original order is the most natural:

• Było tyle dymu, że...

Polish word order often changes for emphasis, but the original sentence is a very normal, neutral version.

Yes. That is also correct and natural.

• Było tyle dymu, że...
• Było tak dużo dymu, że...

Both mean There was so much smoke that...

A slight difference:

• tyle dymu sounds a bit more compact and direct
• tak dużo dymu sounds a bit more explicit

Both are common.

The sentence follows this pattern:

• Było + quantity expression + noun in genitive, że + clause

In your example:

• Było = there was
• tyle dymu = so much smoke
• że = that
• nie widziałam drzwi = I couldn’t see / I didn’t see the door

So a useful model is:

• Było tyle X, że Y. = There was so much X that Y.

Examples:

• Było tyle hałasu, że nie mogłem spać. = There was so much noise that I couldn’t sleep.
• Było tyle ludzi, że nie weszliśmy. = There were so many people that we didn’t go in.