Ten pociąg jest szybki.

This train is fast.

Breakdown of Ten pociąg jest szybki.

• być: to be
• ten: this
• pociąg: the train
• szybki: fast

Questions & Answers about Ten pociąg jest szybki.

What part of speech is ten and why does it look like that?

ten is the masculine singular nominative form of the demonstrative pronoun/adjective meaning this. Polish demonstratives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. For example:

• masculine singular: ten
• feminine singular: ta
• neuter singular: to
• masculine personal plural: ci
• non-masculine-personal plural: te

Which case and number is pociąg in and how do you know?

pociąg is in the nominative singular masculine. We know this because it is the subject of the verb jest. Nominative case marks the subject in Polish, and there is no special ending for most masculine nouns in the nominative singular.

What does jest mean and why is it necessary here?

jest is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb być (to be). In Polish, you generally use the copula in the present tense to link a subject with a predicate adjective or noun:

• English often omits it (e.g. “This train fast”), but Polish requires jest (“Ten pociąg jest szybki”).

Why is szybki ending in -ki and not changing form in this sentence?

Adjectives in Polish must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe. Here szybki is:

• masculine (because pociąg is masculine)
• singular
• nominative (because it follows the copula jest)

So the correct ending is -i (stem szyb- + -ki gives szybki). If the noun were feminine, you’d say szybka; if neuter, szybkie.

How would you say “These trains are fast” in Polish?

You would say: Te pociągi są szybkie.

• Te – demonstrative for non-masculine-personal plural
• pociągi – nominative plural of pociąg
• są – 3rd person plural of być
• szybkie – plural non-masculine-personal nominative form of szybki

How do you pronounce pociąg and szybki?

• pociąg is pronounced ą is a nasal vowel like French on, and stress is on the penultimate syllable (po-CIĄG).
• szybki is pronounced is like English sh, y is a high central vowel, stress on the first syllable (SZYB-ki).

Is the word order in Ten pociąg jest szybki fixed?

Polish word order is relatively flexible, but Subject – Copula – Predicate (S-V-A) is the neutral form. You can move elements for emphasis:

• Szybki jest ten pociąg – emphasizes szybki
• Ten jest szybki pociąg – sounds odd; you generally keep ten pociąg together.

How do you ask “Is this train fast?” in Polish?

You can say: Czy ten pociąg jest szybki?

• czy marks a yes/no question.
• Word order remains the same after czy: subject (ten pociąg), verb (jest), adjective (szybki).

Informally, you might drop czy and rely on intonation: Ten pociąg jest szybki?