Półka jest pusta.

to be

Breakdown of Półka jest pusta.

• półka: the shelf
• pusty: empty

Questions & Answers about Półka jest pusta.

What does półka mean and how do I pronounce it?

półka means “shelf.” The Polish letter ł is pronounced like English w, and ó sounds like u in “food.” So półka is roughly POO-wka.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” or “a” in półka jest pusta?

Polish has no articles. Whether you mean “a shelf” or “the shelf” comes from context, not from a separate word.

What part of speech is jest and why is it needed?

jest is the 3rd person singular present of być (“to be”). In Polish, the copula jest is normally required in the present tense: you can’t say półka pusta in everyday speech.

Can I ever drop jest and say półka pusta?

Only in very telegraphic styles—notes, headlines or labels. In regular sentences you need the copula: półka jest pusta.

What case is półka in?

It’s in the nominative singular because it’s the subject of the sentence.