Panel jest zepsuty.

to be

Breakdown of Panel jest zepsuty.

• zepsuty: broken
• panel: the panel

Questions & Answers about Panel jest zepsuty.

What part of speech is zepsuty in this sentence – an adjective or a past participle?

zepsuty is the past participle of zepsuć (to break) used adjectivally to describe the state of Panel. In Polish, past participles often function like adjectives; here it appears in the nominative singular masculine to agree with Panel.

Why is Panel in the nominative case here?

Panel is the grammatical subject of the sentence. In a copular construction with być (to be), the subject stays in the nominative case and any predicative adjective also appears in nominative.

Why isn’t zepsuty in the instrumental case, like some noun predicates after jest?

Predicative adjectives and participles always take the nominative case in Polish. Only noun predicates can use the instrumental (for example On jest lekarzem). Hence zepsuty remains nominative rather than becoming zepsutym.

Could you omit jest and simply say Panel zepsuty?

In very informal speech or as a brief note (like a headline) you might see Panel zepsuty, but in standard Polish you include the copula: Panel jest zepsuty. Omitting jest makes the phrase sound conversational or fragmentary.