Herbata jest gorąca.

to be

Breakdown of Herbata jest gorąca.

• herbata: the tea
• gorący: hot

Questions & Answers about Herbata jest gorąca.

Why is there no word for the or a in the Polish sentence?

Polish does not have articles like the or a. Speakers rely on context or additional words (e.g. ta for “this”) to show definiteness or indefiniteness. So Herbata jest gorąca can mean either Tea is hot or The tea is hot, depending on the situation.

What is jest and why is it used here?

Jest is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb być (to be). In Polish, you generally need jest to express is, so Herbata jest gorąca literally translates as Tea is hot.

Why does gorąca end with -a?

Adjectives in Polish must agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case. Herbata is feminine singular nominative, so the adjective gorący (“hot”) takes the feminine nominative singular form gorąca.

What grammatical case is herbata in?

Herbata is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence. In Polish, subjects typically appear in the nominative.

Can you omit and still understand the sentence?