Było tyle dymu, że nie widziałam drzwi.

There was so much smoke that I (female) could not see the door.

Breakdown of Było tyle dymu, że nie widziałam drzwi.

• ja: I
• być: to be
• drzwi: the door
• nie: not

Questions & Answers about Było tyle dymu, że nie widziałam drzwi.

Why does the sentence start with Było instead of Był or Była?

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.

Why is it tyle dymu and not tyle dym?