Learn Hardcore Polish: Lodówka, którą mamy teraz, jest cichsza niż ta, którą mieliśmy w zeszłym roku. - The fridge that we have now is quieter than the one we had last year.

Którą is the feminine singular accusative form of the relative pronoun który. It introduces a relative clause referring to a feminine noun (lodówka). We see it twice because the sentence has two separate relative clauses:

którą mamy teraz (the one we have now)
którą mieliśmy w zeszłym roku (the one we had last year)

Each clause needs its own pronoun matching lodówka in gender, number and case.

Why are there commas around którą mamy teraz?

The commas set off that clause as a non-restrictive (parenthetical) relative clause, giving extra information. In Polish, if you treat a relative clause as additional detail rather than essential identification, you separate it with commas. Here the speaker assumes you already know which fridge is meant, so the clause is more descriptive (“the fridge we have now,” with pauses) rather than strictly defining.

How is the comparative cichsza formed from cichy, and could you say bardziej cicha instead?

For short adjectives like cichy, you drop the ending -y and add -szy (masculine) or -sza (feminine), yielding cichsza. While you can use bardziej cichy, it sounds clumsy—Polish prefers the synthetic comparative cichszy/cichsza for one-syllable adjectives.

What is the function of niż, and can we use od after cichsza?

Niż introduces the second term of comparison (“than”). After comparatives ending in -szy/-sza, niż is standard: cichsza niż…. You could also say cichsza od…, but niż is far more common in everyday speech with these forms.

What does ta mean in ta, którą mieliśmy w zeszłym roku, and why is it in the nominative case?

Ta is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that one” or “the one.” It stands in place of lodówka so you don’t repeat the noun. It’s in the nominative case because it functions as the subject of the implied clause (ta lodówka była), even though “was” is omitted in the comparative structure jest cichsza niż ta.

Why are the verbs mamy (we have) in present tense and mieliśmy (we had) in past tense?

The sentence contrasts two time frames:
– mamy teraz (“we have now”) uses the present tense to talk about current possession.
– mieliśmy w zeszłym roku (“we had last year”) uses the past tense (preterite) to refer to last year’s possession.
This highlights that the fridge we own now is quieter than the one from last year.

What does w zeszłym roku literally mean, and why do we use w?

Literally w zeszłym roku is “in last year.” In Polish, time expressions for years (“in 2019,” “in March,” “in the summer”) typically use the preposition w + locative case (zeszłym roku). Idiomatically it means “last year.”