Breakdown of Szefowa powiedziała, że ten asortyment jest wyprzedany.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
szefowa
boss (f)
że
that
powiedzieć
to say (perfective)
asortyment
assortment
wyprzedać
to sell out
Questions & Answers about Szefowa powiedziała, że ten asortyment jest wyprzedany.
How does the phrase jest wyprzedany show a state rather than an action?
This is the stative passive voice, which focuses on the result of a completed action. It combines the verb być (here as jest) with the passive participle wyprzedany. It tells us the current status of the items (they are gone), rather than describing the active process of someone selling them.
Why does Polish use the present tense jest here when English would usually say "said that it was sold out"?
Polish reported speech is much simpler than English because you do not shift the tenses backwards! You just keep the exact tense the person originally used. The boss originally said, "Ten asortyment jest wyprzedany". When reporting it, you keep that present tense, even after the past tense reporting verb powiedziała.
Why does the word wyprzedany end in -y?
In the stative passive voice, the passive participle behaves exactly like an adjective. It must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes. Since ten asortyment is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case, wyprzedany takes the matching masculine singular ending -y.
Does asortyment mean the exact same thing as the English word "assortment"?
Not quite. While they sound similar, the Polish word asortyment is specifically used in retail and business. It usually translates better to a store's "range of goods", "inventory", or "stock" rather than just a random mixture of items.
Learn Szefowa powiedziała, że ten asortyment jest wyprzedany 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