Word
Czekaliśmy dwadzieścia dwie minuty, zanim projektor zaczął działać.
Meaning
We waited twenty-two minutes before the projector started working.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Czekaliśmy dwadzieścia dwie minuty, zanim projektor zaczął działać.
my
we
zanim
before
czekać
to wait
minuta
the minute
Questions & Answers about Czekaliśmy dwadzieścia dwie minuty, zanim projektor zaczął działać.
Why is czekaliśmy enough to mean we waited? Where is the word for we?
In Polish, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.
- czekaliśmy = we waited / we were waiting
- the ending -liśmy tells you it is 1st person plural: we
You could add my for emphasis, but it is not necessary:
- My czekaliśmy... = We were the ones waiting...
Without emphasis, leaving my out is the normal choice.
Why is it czekaliśmy and not some other past-tense form?
Czekaliśmy is the past tense of czekać for we. It is built from the past stem plus a personal ending.
It also shows grammatical gender of the group:
- czekaliśmy = used for a mixed group or a group of males
- czekałyśmy = used if the speakers are all female
So this sentence suggests the speakers were either mixed-gender or male.
Does czekaliśmy mean we waited or we were waiting?