Breakdown of Sześcioro gości siedzi przy stole.
stół
table
siedzieć
to sit
gość
guest
przy
by, at, next to (+ Locative)
sześcioro
six (collective)
Questions & Answers about Sześcioro gości siedzi przy stole.
Why do we use sześcioro here instead of just sześć?
Sześcioro is a collective numeral. In Polish, collective numerals are used for mixed-gender groups, children, or nouns that only have a plural form. Here, it implies that the group of guests (goście) includes both men and women. If it were only women, you would use sześć, and if it were a group containing at least one man, you could also use sześciu or sześcioro.
Why is the word for guests written as gości instead of the basic plural goście?
Collective numerals like sześcioro require the noun that follows them to be in the genitive case. Since there are multiple guests, we use the genitive plural form, which is gości.
Since there are six guests, why is the verb siedzi in the singular rather than the plural siedzą?
When a sentence uses a collective numeral as the subject, Polish grammar treats the entire group as a single, abstract unit. Because of this rule, the verb must be in the third-person singular form. If the sentence were in the past tense, the verb would take the neuter singular form.
I know the word for table is stół. Why does it change to stole here?
The preposition przy (at or by) always takes the locative case. Adding the locative -e ending to stół causes two regular spelling changes in the root: the vowel ó softens back to o, and the consonant ł softens to l. This gives us stole.
Learn Sześcioro gości siedzi przy stole 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