Breakdown of Czy Rzymianie zbudowali to miasto?
czy
[question particle]
ten
this (m)
miasto
city
zbudować
to build
Questions & Answers about Czy Rzymianie zbudowali to miasto?
How do we get the plural form Rzymianie from Rzymianin?
Masculine personal nouns ending in -anin have a special rule for plurals. To form the nominative plural (the subject of the sentence), you drop the -in and add -e. So, Rzymianin becomes Rzymianie.
Does this mean words like Amerykanin or Meksykanin form their plurals the same way?
Exactly! Since they are masculine personal nouns ending in -anin, they follow the exact same rule. You drop the -in and add -e to get Amerykanie and Meksykanie.
Why does the verb zbudowali end in -li instead of -ły?
Rzymianie is a masculine personal subject, meaning the group includes at least one man. In the Polish past tense, masculine personal subjects always take the -li ending. If the sentence was exclusively about female Romans (Rzymianki), the verb would use the non-masculine personal ending and become zbudowały.
What case is to miasto in, and why didn't the ending change?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object (the thing being built). However, miasto is a neuter noun, and for neuter nouns, the accusative form is identical to the basic nominative form. The demonstrative pronoun to also shares this rule, so it doesn't change either.