Breakdown of Ten piękny budynek z drewna powstał w tysiąc osiemset siedemdziesiątym siódmym roku.
ten
this (m)
w
in / on (a day)
piękny
beautiful
rok
year
budynek
building
z
from (+ Genitive)
siódmy
seventh
tysiąc
thousand
drewno
wood
osiemset
eight hundred
powstać
to be created
siedemdziesiąty
seventieth
Questions & Answers about Ten piękny budynek z drewna powstał w tysiąc osiemset siedemdziesiątym siódmym roku.
Why are only the last two numbers of the year, siedemdziesiątym siódmym, in a special case?
When saying a year in Polish, only the tens and units (the last two numbers) act like adjectives and change their endings. The thousands and hundreds (tysiąc osiemset) stay as normal, unchanged numbers. Because we are saying "in" a year, the preposition w forces those last parts to match the Locative case of the word rok (year), giving them the -ym ending.
Why is the word roku added at the end of the year?
In Polish, you almost always include the word rok (year) when giving a specific historical date. Because it follows the preposition w (in), it takes the Locative case and becomes roku. So the Polish structure literally translates to "in the one thousand eight hundred seventieth seventh year".
The English translation says "was built", but the Polish verb is powstał. Why not use a direct word for "build"?
The verb powstać literally means "to arise" or "to come into existence". While you could use a passive phrase like został zbudowany (was built), using powstał is the most natural and common way in Polish to say that a building, city, or institution was founded or created.
Why is "wood building" translated as budynek z drewna?
The phrase z drewna literally means "out of wood". The preposition z here requires the Genitive case, changing the basic noun drewno (wood) to drewna. You could also use the adjective form and say drewniany budynek, which means exactly the same thing.
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