Questions & Answers about Gdzie urodziły się te dzieci?
Dzieci looks very different from its singular form. What is the singular for "child"?
The singular is dziecko. This is one of the most irregular plurals in Polish. The word completely changes its stem from dziecko to dzieci in the plural.
Why does the verb use the -y ending in urodziły się instead of urodzili się?
In the plural, Polish has two genders: masculine personal (groups including at least one man) and non-masculine personal (everything else, including women, animals, objects, and children). Because dzieci falls into the non-masculine personal category, the past tense verb takes the non-masculine ending -y (urodziły).
Does the word te also match the gender of dzieci?
Yes! te is the plural form of "these" for non-masculine personal nouns. If you were talking about a group of men (masculine personal), you would use ci instead. Since dzieci is non-masculine personal, it has to be te dzieci.
Why is się used in this sentence?
In Polish, the concept of "being born" is expressed with the reflexive verb urodzić się. While English uses the passive voice ("were born"), Polish treats it as an active reflexive action. The word się is a required part of this verb.