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Questions & Answers about Mój pies jest mały.
Why do we use mój instead of moja or moje?
In Polish, mój is used for masculine singular nouns. Since pies (dog) is a masculine noun, you use mój. If it were a feminine noun (e.g., kotka, meaning a female cat), you would use moja. If it were a neuter noun (e.g., dziecko, meaning child), you would use moje.
Why is jest used here as the form of to be?
Jest is the third-person singular form of być (to be). In English, it's equivalent to is. In the first person, you would say jestem (I am); in the second person, jesteś (you are). Since the sentence is about he/she/it, Polish uses jest.
Could we change the word order to Mój pies mały jest?
Polish word order can be flexible, but Mój pies mały jest sounds unusual in everyday conversation. Native speakers typically say Mój pies jest mały (subject–verb–adjective). Changing the order could be acceptable in poetry or for emphasis, but it’s not common in standard speech.
Why does mały end with -y, not -a or -e?
Mały is the masculine nominative singular form. In Polish, adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the nouns they describe. Since pies is masculine and in the nominative case, we use mały. If the noun were feminine, we would use mała, and if it were neuter, we would use małe.