"Ten list został napisany przez mężczyznę."
Translation:This letter was written by a man.
11 Comments
would "był" work here too, instead of został? if not, whats the difference?
You need to use 'został' with perfective verbs and 'był' with imperfective verbs.
Actually, "był" works. It seems worse to me, I can't say why, but it works.
Would napisany mężczyzną be also correct? If so, what would be the difference in meaning?
no, no no nononononono
I will not try to imagine how you can write using a man. (instead of a pen).
As I understand it, you can't avoid using "przez" if someone who does the action is a living creature.
So you can say: List został uniesiony wiatrem. And: List został uniesiony przez wiatr
But: List został napisany przez mężczyznę.
More about it here: http://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/miotany-falami;12502.html . There's a good example from Bible: Łódź zaś była miotana falami
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btw link doesn't work so here https://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/miotany-falami;12502.html
