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Questions & Answers about Ola jest miła.
Why does the adjective take the form miła instead of miły or miłe?
In Polish, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Because Ola is a female name, the feminine singular adjective form miła is used. If you were describing a male, you would say Olek jest miły (masculine form), and for a plural group, you might say Ola i Kasia są miłe (feminine plural).
Why do we use jest here, and not another form of the verb być?
Jest is the 3rd person singular present tense form of być (to be), corresponding to he/she/it is in English. Since we're talking about one person, Ola, we use Ola jest …. If you had more people, for example Ola and Tomek, you’d use są: Ola i Tomek są mili (they are nice).
Do we ever say Ola to jest miła?
Generally, in simple descriptions like this, you’d stick to either Ola jest miła or Ola to miła osoba. The phrase to jest is more commonly used when you identify or define something, like To jest Ola (“This is Ola”). It sounds unnatural in the middle of a descriptive sentence like Ola to jest miła, so you typically wouldn’t use it.
Is there a word for “a” or “the” before Ola or miła in Polish?