Breakdown of Dzisiejsze spotkanie jest ważne.
być
to be
ważny
important
spotkanie
the meeting
dzisiejszy
today’s
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Dzisiejsze spotkanie jest ważne.
What part of speech is dzisiejsze, and why isn’t dzisiaj used here?
dzisiejsze is an adjective meaning today’s, derived from the adverb dzisiaj (today). You use dzisiaj when you want to say today (as in “I’m going today”), but you need dzisiejszy (with appropriate ending) to describe a noun—so dzisiejsze spotkanie means today’s meeting.
Why does dzisiejsze end in -e?
Polish adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number and case. Spotkanie is neuter, singular, nominative—so dzisiejszy takes the neuter nominative singular ending -e (dzisiejsze). If you were describing a feminine noun, you’d see dzisiejsza, and for masculine dzisiejszy.
How can I tell that spotkanie is neuter?
Many Polish nouns ending in -anie (or -ęcie) are neuter. Also, the diminutive ending -ko or -ko/-ko (e.g. dziecko) is neuter. Here, the adjective’s ending (dzisiejsze) and the predicate adjective (ważne) confirm that spotkanie is neuter.
Why does ważne end in -e rather than -y or -a?
Ważne is an adjective in predicate position (“is important”) and must match spotkanie (neuter, singular, nominative). The neuter nominative singular ending for adjectives is -e. If the noun were masculine you’d see ważny, feminine ważna, plural ważne (for mixed or neuter groups).
Can I omit jest and just say “Dzisiejsze spotkanie ważne”?
In standard spoken and written Polish, the copula jest (is) is required in the present tense for clarity. Omitting it might appear in headlines or very casual notes, but generally you need jest to form a complete sentence: Dzisiejsze spotkanie jest ważne.
Why aren’t there any words for “the” or “a” in this sentence?
Polish doesn’t have articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context. Dzisiejsze spotkanie could mean today’s meeting (definite) without needing a separate word for the.
Can I change the word order without altering the meaning?
Polish word order is relatively flexible. You could say Spotkanie dzisiejsze jest ważne or Jest dzisiejsze spotkanie ważne, but the most natural is Dzisiejsze spotkanie jest ważne. Deviating can add emphasis or sound poetic, but the core meaning stays the same.
Is it correct to say Dzisiaj spotkanie jest ważne instead?
Yes, you can say Dzisiaj spotkanie jest ważne, but here dzisiaj is an adverb meaning today, focusing on the time of the meeting. Dzisiejsze spotkanie is an adjective-noun phrase meaning today’s meeting. Both are correct, but they emphasize slightly different things.