Breakdown of W urnie było tylko sześć głosów.
być
to be
w
in / on (a day)
tylko
only
sześć
six
urna
the ballot box
głos
the vote
Questions & Answers about W urnie było tylko sześć głosów.
Why is the verb było (was) singular and neuter when the English translation says "were"?
This is a key rule for numbers 5 and above! When a sentence's subject is a number from 5 upwards (like sześć), Polish grammar treats the whole phrase as a single, neuter block. That means past tense verbs must take the neuter singular form (było), not a plural form.
Why is the word for votes głosów instead of the nominative plural głosy?
Numbers 5 and higher force the noun they are counting into the genitive plural case. The regular nominative plural of głos (vote) is głosy, but because it comes right after sześć, it must change to the genitive plural głosów.
Why does the word urna change to urnie in this sentence?
This is a quick reminder of the locative case, which is used after the preposition w (in) when talking about a static location. For regular feminine nouns ending in -a like urna, the ending changes to -ie, giving us w urnie.
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