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Ciasto jest drogie.

Ciasto jest drogie.
The cake is expensive.
FromLesson 9inHardcore Polish

Breakdown of Ciasto jest drogie.

być
to be
drogi
expensive
ciasto
the cake

Questions & Answers about Ciasto jest drogie.

What is jest and what does it mean?
Jest is the 3rd person singular present form of być (to be). It corresponds to English is.
What part of speech is ciasto?
Ciasto is a noun. In this sentence it stands in the nominative singular and means cake (or dough).
What gender, number, and case is ciasto in?
Ciasto is neuter gender, singular number, in the nominative case. Polish nouns change form based on gender, number, and case.
Why does drogie end with -ie instead of -y?
Adjectives in Polish agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case. The base adjective is drogi. Because ciasto is neuter singular nominative, drogi takes the neuter singular nominative ending -ie, giving drogie.
How does adjective agreement work in Polish?

Polish adjectives change their endings to match the noun’s: • Gender: masculine / feminine / neuter
• Number: singular / plural
• Case: nominative, accusative, etc.
So drogi (expensive) → drogie for a neuter noun in nominative singular.

Why isn’t there a word for the or a in the sentence?
Polish has no articles like the or a. Context tells you whether you mean a specific cake or any cake.
How would you make the sentence negative?

Insert nie before the verb: Ciasto nie jest drogie.
= “The cake is not expensive.”

How do you turn it into a yes/no question?

Either raise your intonation:
Ciasto jest drogie?
Or add the particle czy at the beginning:
Czy ciasto jest drogie?

What is the difference between ciasto and ciastko?
Ciasto means cake or dough, while ciastko is a diminutive meaning cookie or small pastry.
How do you say “The cakes are expensive”?

Use the plural forms: Ciasta są drogie.
Here ciasta is the nominative plural of ciasto, and są is the 3rd person plural of być.

How would you say “This cake is expensive”?

Add the demonstrative pronoun to (“this”): To ciasto jest drogie.

Where is the stress in ciasto and drogie?

Polish stress is almost always on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable. In two-syllable words that means the first syllable: • CIAs-to
• DRO-gie

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