Breakdown of Mimo że byłyśmy same, kontynuowałyśmy pracę bez szefa.
być
to be
praca
work
szef
boss (m)
sam
alone / himself (emphatic) / pure / nothing but
Questions & Answers about Mimo że byłyśmy same, kontynuowałyśmy pracę bez szefa.
How do I know whether to use mimo że or just mimo?
Use mimo że (even though / although) when you are introducing a full clause that has a verb, like byłyśmy (we were) in this sentence. If you just want to say 'despite' followed by a noun, you use mimo plus the Genitive case, for example: mimo deszczu (despite the rain).
Why does the sentence use byłyśmy and kontynuowałyśmy instead of byliśmy and kontynuowaliśmy?
The -łyśmy ending tells us that the group of people speaking ('we') is entirely female. If the group included at least one man, you would use the masculine personal forms byliśmy and kontynuowaliśmy.
Does the word same (alone) also change based on who is speaking?
Yes! Because the speakers are a group of women, they use the non-masculine personal form same. If a mixed group or a group of men were speaking, they would say sami.
Why is the word for work pracę instead of its dictionary form praca?
It is the direct object of the verb kontynuowałyśmy (we continued). Direct objects take the Accusative case, which changes the feminine singular ending -a to -ę.
Why does szef become at the end of the sentence?