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Questions & Answers about Ten napój jest zimny.
What does ten mean in this sentence?
ten is the masculine nominative singular demonstrative pronoun meaning this when you point to a specific masculine noun—in this case, “this drink.”
Why is ten used instead of to napój?
In Polish, demonstratives agree in gender with the noun they modify. napój is a masculine noun, so you use ten (masculine) rather than ta (feminine) or to (neuter).
What grammatical gender and case is napój, and why?
napój is a masculine noun (rod męski) in the nominative case (mianownik). We use the nominative because it’s the subject of the sentence: “This drink …”.
Why does zimny end with -y?
Adjectives in Polish must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe. For a masculine singular noun in the nominative case, most adjectives take the ending -y (or -i after certain consonants). Hence zimny matches napój.
What is jest, and why is it used here?
jest is the 3rd person singular present-tense form of the verb być (“to be”). It links the subject (ten napój) with the adjective (zimny) and literally means “is.”
Can you omit jest and just say Ten napój zimny?
In everyday informal speech you might hear shortcuts, but standard Polish usually requires the copula jest in a complete sentence. You can omit it in headlines or labels—e.g. Napój zimny on a sign—but not in a normal declarative sentence.
Where is the stress in napój and zimny, and how is ó pronounced?
Polish stress typically falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable. So napój is pronounced NA-pój, and zimny is ZIM-ny. The letter ó is always pronounced like u, so napój sounds like “NA-pooy.”
What’s the difference between zimny and zimno?
zimny is an adjective meaning “cold” (you use it with a noun). zimno is an adverb or neuter noun meaning “it is cold” or “coldly.” You need zimny here because you’re describing the noun napój.