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Questions & Answers about To jest mój stół.
Why is to used here instead of other Polish words for "this"?
In Polish, to is often used as a neutral pronoun meaning "this" or "it." It doesn’t change with gender for simple statements like "To jest..." When you just want to say "This is [something]," you typically use to at the start of the sentence.
What does jest mean, and do I always need it to form “This is…” sentences?
Jest literally means "is," the third-person singular form of the verb być (meaning "to be"). In the present tense, to say "This is something," you use to + jest + [noun]. In spoken Polish, you’ll also hear people skip the word jest and say just "To mój stół," which is more colloquial but still perfectly understandable.
Why is it mój and not moja or moje?
In Polish, possessive adjectives (like "my") have different forms depending on the grammatical gender of the noun they refer to.
• mój is used with masculine nouns (for example: mój stół, "my table" – because stół is masculine)
• moja is for feminine nouns (moja książka, "my book")
• moje is for neuter nouns (moje dziecko, "my child")
Why does the Polish word stół look different from how it sounds?
Polish spelling can seem tricky to English speakers, but once you understand the rules, it’s mostly consistent. The ó in stół is pronounced like a shortened "oo" (similar to "stuh-oo" but very short). You’ll see ó in many Polish words, and it often sounds like u.
Is there a plural form of stół?
Yes. The plural of stół (table) is stoły (tables). So, if you wanted to say "These are my tables," you could say "To są moje stoły." Notice that the possessive changes form to moje here because stoły is plural.