Aksamit jest drogi.

The velvet is expensive.

Breakdown of Aksamit jest drogi.

• być: to be
• drogi: expensive
• aksamit: velvet

Questions & Answers about Aksamit jest drogi.

Why is it drogi and not droga or drogie?

Because drogi has to agree with aksamit in gender, number, and case.

• aksamit is a masculine singular noun
• the subject is in the nominative
• so the adjective also appears in the masculine singular nominative form: drogi

Compare:

• ten aksamit jest drogi — this velvet is expensive
• ta tkanina jest droga — this fabric is expensive
• to krzesło jest drogie — this chair is expensive

So the ending changes depending on the noun.

Is aksamit a masculine noun?

Yes. Aksamit is masculine singular.

You can see this from agreement:

• ten aksamit
• drogi aksamit
• aksamit jest drogi

Even though velvet is not naturally male or female, Polish still assigns every noun a grammatical gender.

What case is aksamit in here?

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

In Aksamit jest drogi:

• aksamit = subject
• jest = verb
• drogi = adjective describing the subject

The adjective is also nominative because it agrees with the subject in this kind of sentence.