Breakdown of Mój pokój jest cichszy od salonu.
być
to be
mój
my
salon
the living room
pokój
the room
od
than
cichszy
quieter
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Questions & Answers about Mój pokój jest cichszy od salonu.
Why is mój used here, and not moja or moje?
In Polish, possessive pronouns agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify. pokój (room) is masculine singular nominative, so you need the masculine form mój. moja would be feminine, moje would be neuter or plural.
Why does salon change to salonu in this sentence?
After a comparative with od (“than”), the thing you compare to must stand in the genitive case. The genitive singular of salon is salonu, so od salonu means “than the living room.”
Could I use niż instead of od, and if so, would that affect the case of salon?
Yes. You can say Mój pokój jest cichszy niż salon. With niż, the second noun stays in the nominative case (salon). Both od + genitive and niż + nominative are correct; niż is more direct, while od feels slightly more formal.
How do you form the comparative of cichy (quiet), and why can’t you say bardziej cichy?
cichy is a “short” adjective that forms its comparative by adding -szy to the stem: drop -y, yield cich-, then add -szy → cichszy. You don’t use bardziej here because Polish has dedicated comparative endings for many common adjectives instead of the “more” construction.
Does cichszy change its form for different genders or numbers?
Yes. Comparatives behave like adjectives, so they agree with gender, number and case of the noun they describe. For example:
- Feminine: cichsza (e.g. moja sypialnia jest cichsza)
- Neuter: cichsze
- Masculine personal plural: cichsi
- Non-personal/plural objects: cichsze
Where is the stress in cichszy, and how do you pronounce cichszy and pokój?
Polish words are stressed on the penultimate syllable. cichszy has two syllables (cich-szy), so the stress falls on the first: CI-chszy. Pronunciations:
- cichszy [ˈt͡ɕixʂɨ] (roughly “CHEE-khshih”)
- pokój [ˈpɔ.kui̯] (roughly “POH-kooy”)
Why isn’t there any word for “the” or “a” in this Polish sentence?
Polish doesn’t use articles like English “the” or “a.” Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context or other words, so you simply say Mój pokój jest cichszy od salonu without any extra article.
Can I omit jest or change the word order for emphasis?
Generally you keep jest (“is”) in a simple present statement: Mój pokój jest cichszy…
Omitting jest (e.g. Mój pokój cichszy od salonu) sounds poetic or fragmented. You can tweak word order for style—Cichszy od salonu jest mój pokój—but that puts heavy emphasis on “my room” and might sound odd in everyday speech.