Present tense with five or more
When a subject involves a number from five upwards, Polish treats the phrase as a single quantity rather than a plural subject. The noun takes the genitive plural, and the verb takes the third-person singular ("it") form in the present tense.
| Five voters are voting right now. | Pięciu wyborców właśnie głosuje. |
Past tense with five or more
In the past tense, the verb for these "quantity" subjects takes the neuter singular form, ending in -ło. Think of it as literally saying "a group of five did [verb]."
| Although it was raining, ten citizens voted today. | Chociaż padało, dziesięciu obywateli dzisiaj głosowało. |
| There were seven politicians in the commission yesterday. | W komisji było wczoraj siedmiu polityków. |
| There were only six votes in the ballot box. | W urnie było tylko sześć głosów. |
This rule applies across all genders—even when the noun is clearly feminine.
| Eight women organized this campaign. | Osiem kobiet zorganizowało tę kampanię. |
Counting votes and turnouts
You will see this grammar frequently when discussing polls, statistics, and election results. The rule applies to any number five or greater, including larger numbers like twenty (dwadzieścia).
| Only in the afternoon did twenty people cast a vote. | Dopiero po południu dwadzieścia osób oddało głos. |
| These five experts were checking the new poll. | Tych pięciu ekspertów sprawdzało nowy sondaż. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io