Learn Polish: Było nam bardzo smutno.

In Polish, feelings and physical states (like being sad, cold, or warm) are often expressed as things happening to you, rather than something you are. Instead of saying "We were sad", Polish effectively says "It was sad to us". The word nam is the dative case of my, meaning "to us".

Why is the verb było used here instead of byliśmy (we were)?

Because the grammatical subject of the sentence isn't actually "we". This is an impersonal sentence describing a general state. The literal translation is "It was very sad to us." Because "it" is the implied subject, the past-tense verb takes the third-person singular neuter form, było.

Is smutno an adjective? Why does it end in -o?

Smutno is actually an adverb, meaning "sadly". In these impersonal sentences describing states, Polish requires an adverb rather than an adjective. You wouldn't use the adjective smutny (sad) here because there is no specific person or noun acting as the grammatical subject.

Could I just say Byliśmy bardzo smutni instead?

Yes, you can! Byliśmy bardzo smutni is grammatically correct and directly translates to "We were very sad." However, było nam bardzo smutno is a very common structure and often sounds more natural to native Polish speakers when describing a temporary emotional state.