Question 1

The English translation says "when the flashlight went out", but there is no word for "when" in the Polish sentence. Is that normal?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In Polish, the structure ledwie + [Action 1], + [Action 2] naturally implies that the second action happened immediately after the first. You don't need to add a word like kiedy or gdy (when) to connect them. The sequence of the two perfective verbs separated by a comma does all the work.

Question 2

Could I use ledwo instead of ledwie in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Ledwo and ledwie are interchangeable here. Ledwo is slightly more common in everyday spoken Polish, while ledwie can sound a tiny bit more literary or formal, but both are perfectly natural and mean exactly the same thing.

Question 3

Why do we need the preposition przez here? Can't we just say przeszli próg?

Accepted Answer

While English says "cross the threshold" directly, the Polish verb przejść (to cross / to go through) usually requires the preposition przez + accusative case when you are physically crossing a boundary or an obstacle. You'll see this with other physical crossings too, like przejść przez ulicę (to cross the street). If you wanted to avoid the preposition, you would have to use a different verb, like przekroczyć (to step across: przekroczyli próg).

Question 4

The infinitive for "went out" is zgasnąć. Why is the past tense zgasła and not "zgasnęła"?

Accepted Answer

Many perfective verbs ending in -nąć that describe a sudden change of state drop the -ną- part entirely in the past tense. Because latarka is feminine, the ending is just -ła, making it zgasła. You will see this dropping pattern with similar verbs, like zmarznąć (to freeze) becoming zmarzła (she froze).

Ledwie przeszli przez próg, latarka zgasła.

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