Word
Starożytni Rzymianie rzadko nosili spodnie.
Meaning
Ancient Romans rarely wore trousers.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Starożytni Rzymianie rzadko nosili spodnie.
rzadko
rarely
nosić
to wear
spodnie
trousers
starożytny
ancient
Questions & Answers about Starożytni Rzymianie rzadko nosili spodnie.
Why is the plural of "Roman" Rzymianie here instead of something like Rzymiani?
The singular noun for a male Roman is Rzymianin, which belongs to a special group of masculine personal nouns ending in -anin (often used for nationalities and inhabitants). To form the nominative plural for this group, you drop the -in and add -e, resulting in Rzymianie.
Why does the adjective starożytni end in -i rather than -y?
It has to match the masculine personal plural noun Rzymianie. The dictionary form is starożytny. When changing to the masculine personal plural, the ending becomes -i and softens the consonant before it, turning the n into an ni sound.
Why do we use nosili and not nosiły for the past tense of "wore"?
In the past tense, plural verbs have two forms: -li for groups including at least one man (masculine personal), and -ły for everything else. Since Rzymianie refers to a group of men (or a mixed group of Romans), the verb must use the masculine personal ending -li.
What case is spodnie (trousers) in this sentence?