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Questions & Answers about Aparat jest ciężki.
Why is there no word for the or a in the sentence?
Polish does not have definite or indefinite articles like the or a/an. You simply use the noun in the correct case—here aparat is in the nominative—and rely on context to tell you whether it’s “a camera” or “the camera.”
What case are aparat and ciężki in, and why?
Both aparat (camera) and the adjective ciężki (heavy) are in the nominative case.
- aparat is the subject of the sentence.
- ciężki is a predicative adjective (it describes the subject via the verb jest) and so also takes the nominative.
Why is the adjective ciężki in the masculine form, not feminine or neuter?
In Polish, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case.
- aparat is a masculine noun (inanimate), singular, nominative.
- Therefore the adjective must be ciężki (masculine singular nominative), not ciężka (feminine) or ciężkie (neuter or plural).
What is jest, and why is it used here?