Breakdown of Ta słynna orkiestra jest dyrygowana przez młodego dyrygenta.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
młody
young
przez
by (agent of a passive verb)
Questions & Answers about Ta słynna orkiestra jest dyrygowana przez młodego dyrygenta.
Wait, the active verb is "dyrygować orkiestrą" (Instrumental). Why is "orkiestra" in the Nominative case here?
This is exactly how we make passive sentences from Instrumental-governing verbs! Even though dyrygować (to conduct) takes the Instrumental case in the active voice (e.g., On dyryguje orkiestrą), when we change it to the passive voice, the object being conducted becomes the grammatical subject. The subject of a passive sentence always takes the Nominative case, so orkiestrą reverts to orkiestra.
How does the participle "dyrygowana" agree with the rest of the sentence?
Passive participles act just like adjectives. They must agree in gender, number, and case with the subject they describe. Because orkiestra is a feminine singular noun in the Nominative case, the passive participle takes the feminine singular ending -a, becoming dyrygowana.
Why is the conductor "młodego dyrygenta" if the preposition "przez" takes the Accusative? It looks like the Genitive case.
You are right that przez (by) requires the Accusative case. However, dyrygent is a masculine animate noun (a living person). For masculine animate nouns in the singular, the Accusative case endings are identical to the Genitive case endings. So, młody dyrygent correctly becomes młodego dyrygenta in the Accusative.
Are "dyrygować" and "dyrygent" related by a specific pattern?