Breakdown of Ja uważam, że wiosna jest piękna.
ja
I
być
to be
że
that
piękny
beautiful
wiosna
the spring
uważać
to think
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Questions & Answers about Ja uważam, że wiosna jest piękna.
Why is the pronoun ja included in the sentence? Can I just say Uważam, że wiosna jest piękna without it?
In Polish, subject pronouns like ja (I) are usually optional because the verb ending already indicates the person (first person singular -am). You can absolutely say Uważam, że wiosna jest piękna and it still means I think that spring is beautiful. Including ja adds emphasis or contrast—similar to saying “As for me, I think…” in English.
What does uważam mean, and how is it different from myślę?
The verb uważać literally means to consider or to regard, so uważam means I consider/regard. It’s commonly used to express opinions (I think). On the other hand, myśleć means to think in the mental-process sense (to ponder, to have thoughts). When giving an opinion, both are possible:
- Uważam, że… (I consider that… / I’m of the opinion that…)
- Myślę, że… (I think that…) Uważam can sound slightly more formal or evaluative.
How do you pronounce uważam?
Stress in Polish falls on the penultimate syllable. Uważam is pronounced [uˈvaʐam], roughly “oo-VAH-zhahm,” where:
- u as in food (but shorter)
- ż like the s in measure
- a as in father
What is the role of że in this sentence, and can I omit it?
że is a conjunction meaning that, introducing the subordinate clause wiosna jest piękna (“spring is beautiful”). In standard Polish, you need że to link uważam with what you’re thinking. Omitting że (Uważam wiosna jest piękna) is ungrammatical in normal speech or writing.
Why is wiosna in the nominative case?
Wiosna (spring) is the subject of the clause wiosna jest piękna, and in Polish, subjects are almost always in the nominative case. That’s why we don’t inflect it further here.
Why does piękna end with -a?
Piękna is an adjective describing wiosna, which is a feminine singular noun in the nominative case. In Polish, adjectives must agree with their noun in gender, number, and case. Feminine singular nominative adjectives take the ending -a.
Could I invert the clause to say Piękna jest wiosna for emphasis?
Yes, Polish allows relatively free word order due to its case system, so Piękna jest wiosna is grammatically correct and would put special emphasis on piękna. However, this inversion sounds poetic or stylistic; the neutral everyday order is wiosna jest piękna.