Breakdown of Mimo że niektórzy studenci byli zajęci, pomogli nam.
być
to be
my
we
student
student (m)
pomóc
to help
Questions & Answers about Mimo że niektórzy studenci byli zajęci, pomogli nam.
Why do we use niektórzy here instead of niektóre?
niektórzy is the masculine personal plural form, used because it modifies studenci (a group of male or mixed-gender students). If the sentence was about an all-female group of students (studentki) or inanimate objects, you would use niektóre.
Could I just say mimo instead of mimo że?
Not in this sentence. You use mimo że (although / even though) when you are introducing a full clause with a subject and a conjugated verb, like studenci byli here. You use mimo on its own (meaning 'despite') when it is followed by a noun phrase in the Genitive case, for example: mimo deszczu (despite the rain).
Why does the word for 'busy' take the form zajęci?
Adjectives describing masculine personal plural nouns take special endings. The basic singular form is zajęty, but because it describes niektórzy studenci, it takes the masculine personal plural ending -ci. If it described women, animals, or objects, it would be zajęte.
Why does the sentence end with nam instead of nas?