Learn Hardcore Polish: Jestem głodny, więc powinienem zjeść coś zdrowego. - I am hungry, so I should eat something healthy.

głodny is the masculine singular nominative form of the adjective meaning “hungry.” Polish adjectives agree in gender and number with their subjects. If a woman speaks, she’d say głodna. For “we are hungry” you’d use the plural: Jesteśmy głodni (if there’s at least one man in the group) or Jesteśmy głodne (all women).

What does więc mean, and why is it placed between the clauses?

więc is a coordinating conjunction meaning “so” or “therefore.” It links cause and effect:
– Jestem głodny (I’m hungry)
– więc powinienem zjeść coś zdrowego (so I should eat something healthy).
You can also say Jestem głodny, powinienem więc zjeść… without changing the meaning—Polish word order after conjunctions is quite flexible.

What is powinienem, and how do you form “should” in Polish?

powinienem is the first person singular, masculine form of the modal verb powinien (“should”). It’s followed by an infinitive: powinienem zjeść (“I should eat”). For a female speaker you’d use powinnam, and for plural: powinniśmy (m. or mixed) / powinnyśmy (f. only).

Why is zjeść used instead of jeść?

jeść is imperfective (“to be eating,” habitual or ongoing). zjeść is perfective (“to eat up,” a single completed action). Here you talk about eating something once right now, so you use the perfective: zjeść coś zdrowego.

Why is it coś zdrowego and not coś zdrowe?

After indefinite pronouns like coś (“something”) the adjective normally stands in the genitive case. So you say coś dobrego, coś nowego, coś zdrowego. Both coś and zdrowego are in genitive, even though the whole phrase is the direct object of zjeść.

Do I need a comma before więc?

Yes. When więc joins two independent clauses, you separate them with a comma:
Jestem głodny, więc powinienem zjeść coś zdrowego.
If więc appears in the middle of one clause, you often omit the comma: Powinienem więc zjeść…