Breakdown of Школа была построена в 1950 году.
школа
the school
в
in
быть
to be
год
the year
построить
to build
1950
1950
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Questions & Answers about Школа была построена в 1950 году.
What is the structure and meaning of Школа была построена?
It’s the past passive voice: была is the past‐tense auxiliary of быть in feminine singular (because школа is feminine), and построена is the past passive participle of построить. Together they mean “was built.”
Why is the participle построена used instead of a reflexive form like построилась?
The reflexive построилась would mean “built itself.” To express that someone built the school, Russian uses the passive participle построена with the auxiliary verb быть.
Why is в 1950 году used to specify time, and why is год in the form году?
To indicate when something happened, Russian uses the preposition в + a year in the prepositional case. The noun год becomes году in that case. So в 1950 году literally means “in the year 1950.”
How do you read the number 1950 aloud in Russian?
You say тысяча девятьсот пятьдесят. If you need the ordinal, say тысяча девятьсот пятидесятый, and with год: в тысяча девятьсот пятидесятом году or more colloquially в 1950-м году.
Could the word order be different, for example, В 1950 году школа была построена?
Yes. Russian word order is flexible. You can say В 1950 году школа была построена or В 1950 году была построена школа without changing the basic meaning, though the focus or emphasis may shift slightly.
What is the difference between Школа была построена and Школу построили?
Школа была построена is passive, focusing on the school itself. Школу построили is active voice, third‐person plural of построить (“they built the school”), focusing on the doers (unspecified).
Can you omit the auxiliary verb была and just say Школа построена в 1950 году?
In everyday speech and in full sentences you normally include была. Omitting it (e.g., Школа построена в 1950 году) is possible in headlines, labels, or notes, but it sounds incomplete in regular prose.
Why isn’t the imperfective verb строилась used here instead of построена?
Строилась (imperfective) means “was being built” or “used to be built,” emphasizing the process or repetition. Построена comes from the perfective verb построить, indicating the action was completed at a specific time.