Breakdown of Dzieci zamknęły okna, bo zaczął padać deszcz.
dziecko
child
okno
window
deszcz
rain
bo
because
zamknąć
to close
zacząć
to start
padać
to rain / to fall (of snow, hail)
Questions & Answers about Dzieci zamknęły okna, bo zaczął padać deszcz.
Why is the verb zamknęły instead of zamknęli?
Even though a group of dzieci (children) usually includes boys, the singular word dziecko is neuter. In the plural, neuter nouns belong to the non-masculine-personal category. Therefore, the past tense verb takes the -ły ending, not the masculine-personal -li ending.
Why does the verb stem have an ę in zamknęły, but an ą in forms like zamknął?
Verbs ending in -nąć (like zamknąć) experience a vowel shift in the past tense. The vowel ą is used only in the masculine singular (like on zamknął). For feminine, neuter, and non-masculine-personal plural forms, the ą changes to ę, which gives us zamknęły.
What is the subject of zaczął, and why is it in the masculine form?
The subject of the second clause is deszcz (rain), which is a masculine noun. Because the subject is masculine, the past tense verb zaczął must also be in the masculine singular form, even though it appears before the noun in this sentence.
Why is there no word for 'it' in the phrase zaczął padać deszcz?
English requires a dummy pronoun for weather events (like the 'it' in 'it started to rain'). Polish does not use dummy pronouns. Here, deszcz (rain) is the actual subject doing the action of falling (padać). Literally, the clause translates to 'rain started to fall.'
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