To jest mój pierwszy dom.

This is my first house.

Breakdown of To jest mój pierwszy dom.

• być: to be
• dom: the house
• to: this
• mój: my
• pierwszy: first

Questions & Answers about To jest mój pierwszy dom.

Why is to used at the beginning of the sentence, and not ten, ta, or ci?

In Polish, the phrase To jest… (“This is…”) is a fixed identifying construction. Here to is a neuter singular pronoun that doesn’t change to agree with the gender or number of the noun that follows. You always say To jest regardless of whether you’re pointing at a man, a house or a group of people.

Key points:
• To = “this/it” (neuter, uninflected in this structure)
• Ten, ta, ci are demonstrative adjectives, not the standard pronoun used in To jest…

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What is the role of jest in To jest mój pierwszy dom?

jest is simply the third person singular present tense of the verb być (“to be”), i.e. he/she/it is. In To jest…, jest links the pronoun to with what follows, functioning like the English is in “This is…”

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Why is dom in the nominative case and not accusative after to jest?

After to jest the noun behaves as a subject complement, not a direct object. Polish treats both sides of to jest like two equals, so the noun remains in the nominative.

Compare:
• “To jest dom.” → dom (nom.)
• “Widzę dom.” → domu (genative) or dom (accusative) depending on context

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Why do we use mój here, and not mojego or another form?

mój is the first‐person singular possessive pronoun in nominative masculine singular, agreeing with dom (which is a masculine noun). Polish possessive pronouns change to match the gender, number and case of the noun they modify, not the gender of the speaker.

Forms of “my” in nominative:
• masculine nouns → mój
• feminine nouns → moja
• neuter nouns → moje
• plural → moi / moje

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Why is pierwszy placed before dom, and does its form change?

pierwszy is an ordinal number (“first”) used as an adjective, so it follows the normal Polish adjective–noun order (adjective + noun). It agrees in gender, number and case with dom (masculine singular nominative).

Forms of pierwszy in nominative:
• masculine singular → pierwszy
• feminine singular → pierwsza
• neuter singular → pierwsze
• plural → pierwsi / pierwsze

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There’s no article like “a” or “the” here. Is that correct?

Yes. Polish has no indefinite or definite articles. Nouns stand alone, and context or additional words (like possessive pronouns or demonstratives) convey definiteness or indefiniteness. E.g.:
• To jest dom. → “This is a/the house.” (context tells you)
• To jest mój dom. → “This is my house.”

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Could I say Jest mój pierwszy dom (dropping to)?

No. In an identification sentence you need the pronoun to as the subject. Simply saying Jest mój pierwszy dom would sound ungrammatical or like you’re missing a subject. If you want to change the meaning to “I have my first house,” you’d say Mam mój pierwszy dom, using mam (“I have”) instead of to jest.

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How do I pronounce pierwszy, especially the rz sound?

pierwszy is pronounced approximately [PYER-vshee]. Break it down:
• pie­r → sounds like pyehr
• ­wszy → v-sheh (the w is like English v, rz is similar to the French j in “jour” or the s in English “vision”)
Put together: PYER-vshee.