Sprzedawca nie jest winny.

Sprzedawca means seller, salesman, or sometimes shop assistant, depending on context.

In this sentence, it is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence: the person being talked about.

That is a very common point of confusion. In Polish, some masculine nouns referring to people end in -a. So even though sprzedawca looks a bit like a feminine noun, it is grammatically masculine.

Other examples are kolega (male friend / colleague) and poeta (poet, traditionally masculine in form).

You can tell it is masculine from agreement:

• ten sprzedawca = this seller
• dobry sprzedawca = a good seller
• sprzedawca był zmęczony = the seller was tired

Grammatically, sprzedawca is masculine, so very often it refers to a male seller.

If you specifically want to say female seller, Polish often uses sprzedawczyni.

That said, in some contexts sprzedawca can also be used more generally as a job title or role. Whether it sounds specifically male or more generic depends on context and speaker preference.

Jest is the 3rd person singular present tense of być, which means to be.

So:

• jest = is

In this sentence:

• Sprzedawca jest winny = The seller is guilty
• Sprzedawca nie jest winny = The seller is not guilty

In standard Polish, no. You normally need jest here.

So:

• Sprzedawca nie jest winny = correct
• Sprzedawca nie winny = not standard Polish

This is different from some other Slavic languages where the present-tense to be can be omitted. In standard modern Polish, with this kind of sentence, you normally keep jest.

In Polish, nie normally goes before the finite verb to make the sentence negative.

So:

• jest = is
• nie jest = is not

This is the regular pattern:

• mam / nie mam = I have / I do not have
• wiem / nie wiem = I know / I do not know
• jest / nie jest = is / is not

Also, nie is written separately from most verbs, including jest.

Winny is an adjective, and it agrees with sprzedawca in gender, number, and case.

Since sprzedawca is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective also appears as:

• winny

Compare:

• sprzedawca jest winny = masculine singular
• sprzedawczyni jest winna = feminine singular
• dziecko jest winne = neuter singular
• sprzedawcy są winni = masculine-personal plural

Here winny is in the nominative, because it is a predicate adjective after być.

That is normal in Polish:

• On jest zmęczony = He is tired
• Ona jest miła = She is nice
• Sprzedawca nie jest winny = The seller is not guilty

This is different from predicate nouns, which are often in the instrumental after być:

• On jest lekarzem = He is a doctor

So:

• adjective after być -> usually nominative
• noun after być -> often instrumental

Winny usually means guilty, but it can also mean at fault, to blame, or responsible depending on context.

So this sentence could be understood as:

• The seller is not guilty
• The seller is not to blame
• The seller is not at fault

The exact nuance depends on the situation. It could be legal guilt, moral blame, or simple responsibility.

They are close, but not always identical.

• nie jest winny = is not guilty / is not at fault
• jest niewinny = is innocent

Often they can translate similarly, but the nuance is a bit different:

• nie jest winny simply denies guilt
• niewinny more directly states innocence

So Sprzedawca nie jest winny can sound a little more neutral or factual, while Sprzedawca jest niewinny can sound slightly stronger.

This is the neutral, standard word order.

Polish word order is fairly flexible, so other orders are possible, but they usually change the emphasis.

For example:

• Sprzedawca nie jest winny = neutral statement
• Nie jest winny sprzedawca = emphasis on it is not the seller who is guilty
• Winny nie jest sprzedawca = stronger contrast, more marked style

So the given order is the best one to learn first.

Polish does not have articles like a or the.

So sprzedawca can mean:

• a seller
• the seller

The context tells you which one is meant.

That is why Sprzedawca nie jest winny can be translated as either:

• The seller is not guilty or, in some contexts,
• A seller is not guilty

In real use, context usually makes this clear.