Która jest godzina?

What time is it?

Breakdown of Która jest godzina?

• być: to be
• który: which
• godzina: the time

Questions & Answers about Która jest godzina?

What part of speech is która and why do we use it here?

która is an interrogative pronoun of the ordinal type (“which”). It’s in the feminine nominative singular to agree with godzina, which is also feminine singular. Literally the phrase asks “which (hour) is the hour?”, i.e. “what time is it?”

Why is godzina in the nominative case instead of another case?

Because jest (“is”) is the linking verb “to be,” and both the subject and its complement appear in the nominative. Here godzina is the grammatical subject of the sentence. Both która and godzina take the nominative case.

Can we omit jest and just say Która godzina?

Yes, in everyday colloquial Polish you can drop jest and simply ask Która godzina? It’s even more common in casual speech. Including jest is slightly more formal or complete.

What’s the difference between Która jest godzina? and Jaka jest godzina?

Both are understood as “what time is it?” but:
• Która is ordinal (“which hour…?”) and more idiomatic for asking the time.
• Jaka is a general interrogative adjective (“what…?”). Using Jaka jest godzina? is grammatically correct but a bit less common in everyday speech.