Breakdown of Zanim przyszliśmy, to zamówienie było anulowane.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
przyjść
to come, to arrive
zamówienie
order
zanim
before
anulować
to cancel (an order, transaction)
Questions & Answers about Zanim przyszliśmy, to zamówienie było anulowane.
Why do we use było anulowane here instead of zostało anulowane?
This sentence uses the stative passive voice, which is formed with być (here as było) plus a passive participle. It describes the resulting state the order was already in when we arrived. If we used zostało anulowane, it would sound like the action of cancelling happened right at that moment, rather than being a pre-existing condition.
Why does the participle anulowane end in -e?
Passive participles act like adjectives and must match the gender, case, and number of the noun they describe. Because zamówienie (order) is a neuter singular noun, both the auxiliary verb było and the participle anulowane must take the neuter singular endings.
Why is przyszliśmy used instead of the imperfective przychodziliśmy?
The word zanim (before) sets up a sequence of events. We use the perfective verb przyszliśmy because the action of arriving was a completed, one-time event in the past, rather than a continuous or repeated background action.
What does the form of przyszliśmy tell us about the speakers?
The -liśmy ending is the masculine personal (or virile) form for 'we' in the past tense. This tells us the group arriving included at least one male. If the group were exclusively female, the verb would be przyszłyśmy.
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