Breakdown of Mieliśmy dużo pracy, dlatego nie mogliśmy wyjść z biura.
mieć
to have
nie
no / not
biuro
office
praca
work
dużo
a lot / much
móc
to be able to
wyjść
to go out, to leave
z
from (+ Genitive)
dlatego
therefore
Questions & Answers about Mieliśmy dużo pracy, dlatego nie mogliśmy wyjść z biura.
Why is the stem mogli- in mogliśmy? Shouldn't it be based on the singular past tense mógł?
The verb móc (can / to be able to) has irregular stem changes in the past tense. For groups containing at least one man (masculine personal), the core stem changes from the singular mógł to mogli-. Then, you simply attach the standard "we" ending -śmy to get mogliśmy.
Is the stem change in mieliśmy (from mieć) happening for the exact same reason?
Yes! Both mieć (to have) and móc (to be able to) change their vowels before the -li- ending used for masculine personal groups in the past tense. If the "we" in this sentence was a group of only women, the endings would use -ły- instead, and the vowels wouldn't change in the same way: you would say miałyśmy and mogłyśmy.
Why does the sentence use pracy and biura instead of their dictionary forms, praca and biuro?
Both words are in the Genitive case here, but for different reasons. The word dużo (a lot) always requires the noun following it to be in the Genitive case, turning praca into pracy. Later in the sentence, the preposition z (meaning "out of" or "from") also requires the Genitive case, turning biuro into biura.
Why is "leave the office" translated as wyjść z biura?
The verb wyjść literally means "to walk out" or "to exit" (it is related to iść, to walk). In Polish, you generally don't just "leave a place" like you do in English; you "exit from" it. Because of this, you have to use the preposition z (from / out of) alongside the verb.
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