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Questions & Answers about Każdy sukces jest ważny.
Why is każdy singular even though we are talking about more than one success?
Każdy means every and is always used with a singular noun. In Polish, distributive adjectives like każdy highlight each individual item in a group, so they never take a plural noun.
What case is sukces in, and why?
Sukces is in the nominative case, singular. It’s the subject of the sentence, answering “What is important?” In Polish, the subject of a simple statement takes the nominative.
Why does ważny end in -y?
Adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. Sukces is masculine singular nominative, so the adjective ważny also takes the masculine singular nominative ending -y.
What role does jest play here?
Jest is the third person singular present tense of być (“to be”). In “Każdy sukces jest ważny,” it links the subject (każdy sukces) to the predicate adjective (ważny), forming a complete statement.
Why aren’t there any articles like “the” or “a” in this sentence?
Polish does not use definite or indefinite articles. Context and word order usually convey definiteness or indefiniteness, so you simply say każdy sukces for “every success” without an extra word.
Can I reorder the words for emphasis, for example Ważny jest każdy sukces?
Yes, Polish allows flexible word order for emphasis. Ważny jest każdy sukces (“Important is every success”) is grammatically correct and stresses ważny, but the neutral (default) order is Każdy sukces jest ważny.
Could I express the same idea in the plural, like Wszystkie sukcesy są ważne?
Yes. Wszystkie sukcesy są ważne means All successes are important. The nuance is slightly different:
- Każdy sukces jest ważny stresses each success one by one.
- Wszystkie sukcesy są ważne treats the successes as a collective group.
How do I pronounce Każdy sukces jest ważny?
Phonetic rough guide: KAHZ-dih SOO-tsyets yest VAHZ-nih.
– ą is nasal “on” but here każdy is just /kaʐdɨ/.
– Polish stress almost always falls on the second-to-last syllable: KAŻ-dy SUk-ces jest WAŻ-ny.
Does każdy change form for different genders?
Yes. Każdy is masculine. For feminine nouns you use każda and for neuter nouns każde. Examples:
- każda osoba (“every person,” feminine)
- każde dziecko (“every child,” neuter)