"You were a young man then."

Translation: Tehdy jsi byl mladý muž.

[teabeadle]

why is "byls mladý muž tehdy" wrong here? (Especially since "bylas ráda tehdy" is correct in some other exercise, and I don't see a big difference in the setup of these sentences.)

[VladaFu]

"Byls tehdy mladý muž." is much more natural. I cannot imagine your answer without a stop and starting a new sentence. "Byls mladý muž. Tehdy..."

[Nick384536]

I want to upvote this question. What's the deal with 'byls' and 'bylas'? When do you use 'jsi byl(a)' and when do you use 'byl(a)s'?

[VladaFu]

"byls" is equivalent to "byl jsi" if you need the "jsi byl" word order, it is better to stay with these two words. Or sometimes append the s clitic to the preceding word instead, but it is more difficult to do it correctly. You cannot append it to the and of "byl" when the "jsi" is before it and not after.

[PaulRobert667871]

And when must the "jsi" be before the "byl" instead of after it? I thought it might have something to do with questions instead of statements, but your first remark gives an example of a statement using "byls", so is there another guideline?

Is the auxiliary "jsi" wanting the second position - is that a reason?

[VladaFu]

You can use both, but make sure that you either place jsi or the -s in the second position. That is all.

If you use Bylas, then the Byla- must be in the first position so that the -s is second. But you must follow all other ordering rules https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/31466920

[StephenGri638972]

And why is 'tehdy byls mlady muz' wrong ? Is it because the byls must come first ?

[VladaFu]

The enclitic -s must be in the second position, so appended to the first word here.