opisywano

Opisywano is a Polish verb form used to describe an action in the past that was described by unspecified agents. It comes from the imperfective aspect of the verb opisywać and is in the passive voice. The construction signals that the description occurred over a period or repeatedly, rather than being a single completed act. In practice, opisywano functions as an impersonal or generalized statement, where the author does not specify who described what.

In usage, opisywano often appears in academic, historical, and journalistic writing. It allows the author to present established descriptions without attributing them to particular individuals. The form can convey nuance about how a phenomenon was portrayed across sources, or how interpretations evolved over time. It contrasts with forms like opisano, which uses the perfective aspect to indicate a completed description by possibly unspecified agents.

Grammatically, opisywano is a finite past tense form that does not require a concrete subject. It can be followed by descriptive predicates or subordinate clauses that specify what was described, for example: “W literaturze opisywano to zjawisko jako niezwykle złożone” or “W raportach opisywano proces jako skomplikowany i długotrwały.” Related forms include opisano (passive perfective, a completed description) and opisywać (the infinitive).