Breakdown of Było zbyt późno, żeby wyjść, i nagle się rozpadało.
być
to be
i
and
późno
late
żeby
so that, in order to
wyjść
to go out, to leave
nagle
suddenly
zbyt
too / excessively
rozpadać się
to start raining heavily
Questions & Answers about Było zbyt późno, żeby wyjść, i nagle się rozpadało.
How does the roz- ... się structure change the meaning of the verb padać here?
The base verb padać just means to rain or to fall. Adding the roz- ... się circumfix adds a sense of gathering momentum and intensity. So rozpadało się doesn't just mean it started raining; it means the rain really got going or it started pouring down.
Why is rozpadało in the neuter form if there is no noun for it to agree with?
In Polish, subjectless weather verbs use the 3rd-person singular neuter form in the past tense (ending in -ło). It functions like the dummy 'it' in the English phrase 'it started raining heavily.' If you used the explicit word for rain (deszcz), you would use a masculine verb, but here the verb stands alone.
Why do we need żeby before wyjść?
In English we say 'too late to go out', directly connecting 'too late' with an infinitive. Polish requires żeby (in order to / so that) after zbyt (too) to link the condition to the action. It literally reads as 'It was too late in order to go out.'
Could I say 'zbyt późno, żeby wychodzić' using the imperfective verb?
You could, but it slightly changes the feel. The perfective wyjść focuses on the single, completed act of leaving the house right then. The imperfective wychodzić would sound more general, like 'too late to be going out' or could refer to a repeated habit.
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