Breakdown of Kto założył tę firmę i kiedy powstała?
i
and
ten
this (m)
kto
who
firma
company
kiedy
when
założyć
to found
powstać
to be created
Questions & Answers about Kto założył tę firmę i kiedy powstała?
Why is it tę firmę instead of ta firma?
Firma is the direct object of the verb założył (founded), so it must be in the Accusative case. The feminine noun firma changes to firmę, and the pronoun for "this" (ta) changes to match it, becoming tę. This is a great reminder not to mix up the Accusative tę with the Instrumental tą!
Why does the first verb end in a masculine way (założył) but the second verb ends in a feminine way (powstała)?
The subject of the first part of the sentence is kto (who). In Polish, the question word kto always takes a default masculine singular verb in the past tense, even if you are asking about a woman. The subject of the second part is the company itself (ta firma). Since firma is a feminine noun, the past tense verb must match it with the feminine ending -ła.
The English translation says "was established", but is powstała a passive verb?
It is actually an active verb! The verb powstać means "to arise", "to be formed", or "to come into being". Polish frequently uses this active verb rather than a clunky passive construction. Literally, the second half of the sentence asks "and when did it arise?".
Since this lesson is about historical dates, how would I answer the kiedy part with a year like 1998?
You would use the preposition w (in) followed by the year in the Locative case. Remember the rule: the thousands and hundreds stay as regular numbers, but the tens and units change into ordinal numbers (like "98th") in the Locative. For 1998, you would answer: Powstała w tysiąc dziewięćset dziewięćdziesiątym ósmym roku.
Learn Kto założył tę firmę i kiedy powstała and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free