Word
Trzej studenci mieszkają razem.
Meaning
Three students live together.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Trzej studenci mieszkają razem.
Why does this sentence use trzej instead of trzech?
In Polish, when counting men (masculine personal nouns), you have two grammatical choices for the subject. You can use the nominative form trzej with the nominative noun studenci, or the genitive-like form trzech with the genitive plural noun studentów. Both are completely correct, but trzej studenci sounds a bit more formal or written, while trzech studentów is very common in spoken Polish.
If I swapped the subject to trzech studentów, would the verb stay the same?
No, the verb would have to change. With the nominative subject trzej studenci, the verb acts normally and takes the plural form mieszkają. However, if you use the quantity phrase trzech studentów, Polish grammar treats the whole subject as a singular, neuter block. The verb would drop to the third-person singular: Trzech studentów mieszka razem.
Could I use the collective number troje here?
You would only use troje studentów if you were specifically referring to a mixed-gender group (for example, two guys and one girl). Because this sentence uses the masculine personal trzej, it tells us that all three students are male.
Why is the plural of student studenci instead of studenty?