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.

What gender is półka, and how does that affect pusta?

półka is feminine. Adjectives in Polish agree with the noun’s gender, number and case. The base adjective is pusty (“empty” masculine), so for a feminine subject you use pusta.

How would I say “The shelves are empty”?

You change both noun and adjective to plural nominative and use the plural of być:
Półki są puste.
– półki (feminine nominative plural)
– są (3 plur. “are”)
– puste (feminine nominative plural)

Could I say jest pusta półka instead?

It’s grammatically possible, but sounds very marked or poetic—Polish normally uses Subject–Verb–Predicate order: półka jest pusta.

Are there any synonyms for pusta?

You might see opróżniona (“emptied”) or bez rzeczy (“without things”), but pusta is the standard word for “empty.”