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Questions & Answers about Biały dom jest duży.
Why is there no word for the in Biały dom jest duży?
Polish has no articles (like a, an, the). Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context or added with words like ten (this) or tamten (that).
How do I say the white house if I need to specify the?
You can use a demonstrative:
- ten biały dom = “this white house”
For the U.S. President’s residence as a proper name, you capitalize: - Biały Dom
Why are the adjectives biały and duży placed before the noun rather than after?
The neutral Polish order is adjective + noun (biały dom). You can say dom biały for poetic effect or special emphasis, but everyday speech sticks to biały dom.
Why do both adjectives end in -y here? Will they ever change?
They agree with dom, which is masculine singular nominative. Adjectives change endings to match gender, number and case. Examples:
- Feminine: biała (white), duża (big)
- Neuter: białe, duże
- Plural masculine personal: biali, duzi
What case is dom in and why?
It’s in the nominative case because it’s the subject of the sentence. In “[X] is [Y]” constructions, both the subject (dom) and the predicate adjective (duży) are nominative.
Could I say To jest duży biały dom instead?
Yes. To jest duży biały dom means “This is a big white house.” Here you use to (“this/it”) and stack adjectives duży then biały. Word order can shift for emphasis or style.
Why isn’t there a to before jest in the original sentence?
When the subject is explicit (Biały dom), you drop to. You use To jest… mainly to introduce or point something out:
- To jest dom. = “This is a house.”
But once you start with a clear subject, you just say [Subject] jest [Predicate].
How do I pronounce Biały dom jest duży?
IPA: [ˈbʲawɨ ˈdɔm jɛst ˈduʐɨ]
Key tips:
- biały: “BYA-wih” (soft b
- a as in “father”)
- dom: like English “dome” without the e
- jest: “yest”
- duży: “DOO-zhi” (Ż = English zh)