Question 1

Why does the word for "seventeenth" (siedemnasty) end in -y here?

Accepted Answer

Siedemnasty is an ordinal number, and in Polish, ordinal numbers behave exactly like adjectives. Because it describes trening, which is a masculine noun, it takes the standard masculine singular ending -y. To form ordinal numbers from 13th to 19th, you generally take the regular number (like siedemnaście), drop the -cie, and add the adjective ending!

Question 2

The verb mieć (to have) usually takes the accusative case. Why do siedemnasty trening look like they are in the basic dictionary form?

Accepted Answer

They actually are in the accusative case! Because trening (practice/training) is a masculine inanimate noun (a thing or concept, not a living being), its accusative form is identical to its basic nominative (dictionary) form. The ordinal number siedemnasty simply copies this form to match the noun.

Question 3

Why is the verb miał in the singular form if a team (zespół) is made up of multiple people?

Accepted Answer

In Polish, verbs must match the grammatical form of the noun, not the concept behind it. Even though a team has many members, the word zespół itself is a singular masculine noun. Therefore, it requires the singular masculine past tense verb miał.

Question 4

Could I put the word wczoraj (yesterday) somewhere else in the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Polish word order is quite flexible. Placing adverbs of time like wczoraj between the verb (miał) and the object (siedemnasty trening) is very natural, but you could also put it at the very beginning (Wczoraj mój zespół miał...) or at the end of the sentence without changing the core meaning.

Mój zespół miał wczoraj siedemnasty trening.

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