Żądło jest małe.

Because żądło is a neuter singular noun, and the adjective has to agree with it.

In Polish, adjectives change their form to match the noun’s:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• żądło = neuter singular
• so the adjective must also be neuter singular: małe

Compare:

• mały = masculine singular
• mała = feminine singular
• małe = neuter singular

So Żądło jest małe is correct because both words match grammatically.

Żądło is neuter.

A very common clue in Polish is the ending:

• many neuter nouns end in -o, -e, or -ę

Since żądło ends in -o, that strongly suggests it is neuter.

That is why you get:

• to żądło
• małe żądło
• żądło jest małe

Jest means is.

It is the 3rd person singular form of być (to be):

• jest = he/she/it is

So in Żądło jest małe:

• żądło = subject
• jest = is
• małe = adjective describing the subject

English also needs is here, and standard Polish normally uses jest too.

Usually, in a sentence like this, no—not in normal standard Polish.

So:

• Żądło jest małe = natural and correct
• Żądło małe = not normal as a full neutral sentence

Polish sometimes drops forms of to be in very informal speech, headlines, notes, or poetry, but for a learner, it is best to keep jest in sentences like this.

It is in the nominative singular.

That is because żądło is the subject of the sentence:

• Żądło = the sting
• jest małe = is small

The adjective małe is also in the nominative singular neuter because it agrees with the subject.

Because this sentence uses an adjective, not a noun.

With być (to be):

• if the complement is an adjective, Polish normally uses the nominative
• if the complement is a noun, Polish often uses the instrumental

So:

• Żądło jest małe = adjective, so nominative
• On jest lekarzem = noun, so instrumental

This is an important pattern:

• jest mały / mała / małe
  not
• jest małym / małą / małym in this kind of basic description

A rough pronunciation guide is:

ZHON-dwo yest MAH-weh

A few important sounds:

• ż sounds like the s in measure
• ą is a nasal vowel; before dł it often sounds close to on
• ł sounds like English w
• j sounds like English y
• e is usually like e in met
• łe at the end of małe sounds roughly like weh

So:

• żądło ≈ ZHON-dwo
• jest ≈ yest
• małe ≈ MAH-weh

Ą is a separate Polish letter, not just an accented a.

It represents a nasal vowel, which English does not really have as a separate vowel sound. Its pronunciation changes slightly depending on what consonant comes after it.

In żądło, ą comes before dł, so in normal speech it often sounds roughly like on.

For learners, the key thing is:

• ą is part of the spelling
• it is a normal letter in Polish
• you should learn it as part of the word, not as an optional accent

The basic order is:

Żądło + jest + małe
subject + verb + adjective

This is the most neutral word order.

Polish word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Małe jest żądło — marked, poetic, or contrastive
• Jest małe żądło — generally not the normal way to say this meaning

For a learner, Żądło jest małe is the safest and most natural version.

Yes. To żądło jest małe is also correct.

Adding to makes it more like:

• This sting is small or
• That sting is small

Whether it means this or that depends on context.

So:

• Żądło jest małe = The sting is small / A sting is small
• To żądło jest małe = This/that sting is small

Most commonly, żądło means a sting or stinger, especially the stinging organ of an insect like a bee or wasp.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• the actual stinger
• the sting of an animal in a more general sense

A learner should mainly remember it as the standard Polish noun for sting/stinger.

The plural is żądła.

So:

• singular: Żądło jest małe = The sting is small
• plural: Żądła są małe = The stings are small

Notice the changes:

• żądło → żądła
• jest → są
• małe stays małe here, because that form is also used for certain plural contexts

No. Małe can be:

• neuter singular nominative/accusative
• or a non-masculine-personal plural form in some contexts

In this sentence, it is neuter singular, because it matches żądło.

So here:

• żądło = neuter singular
• małe = neuter singular adjective form

But in another sentence, małe could be plural, for example:

• Koty są małe would not be correct, because koty take małe only if they are non-masculine-personal? Actually koty są małe is correct because animals are non-masculine-personal in the plural.

So the form małe can appear in more than one grammatical role; context tells you which one it is.