Breakdown of Wczoraj w salonie nałożyłyśmy sobie maseczki.
w
in / on (a day)
wczoraj
yesterday
sobie
to oneself / oneself (after a preposition)
salon
the living room
Questions & Answers about Wczoraj w salonie nałożyłyśmy sobie maseczki.
Why is the word sobie used here if the English translation just says 'we put on'?
Sobie means 'to ourselves' or 'for ourselves'. While you do not always need to translate it into English, Polish uses this pronoun to show that you are doing something for your own benefit, comfort, or to your own body. It fits perfectly with the idea of a relaxing self-care activity!
How do we know if men or women are speaking based on the word nałożyłyśmy?
The ending -łyśmy tells us that a group of women (or girls) is speaking. This is the non-masculine plural form of the past tense. If there were even one man in the group, the verb would change to the masculine personal form: nałożyliśmy.
Does w salonie mean they are at a beauty salon?
Most likely not! In Polish, the word salon almost always means the 'living room' of a house or apartment. If they were at a beauty salon, they would probably specify w salonie kosmetycznym.
What case is w salonie and why?
It is in the Locative case. You use this case after the preposition w (in) to describe a fixed location. Since the base word salon is a regular masculine inanimate noun, it takes the -ie ending.