Dobry sen jest ważny.

to be

Breakdown of Dobry sen jest ważny.

• ważny: important
• dobry: good
• sen: the sleep

Questions & Answers about Dobry sen jest ważny.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before sen in Dobry sen jest ważny?

Polish does not use articles. Nouns stand alone, so sen can mean “sleep” or “a sleep” or “the sleep” depending on context.

Why is dobry placed before sen, and could the order be different?

Adjectives normally precede nouns in Polish, just like in English. You technically could say Sen dobry jest ważny for emphasis, but it sounds marked or poetic. The standard word order is Dobry sen.

How do I know that dobry and ważny match sen in gender, number, and case?

Sen is masculine, singular, nominative (the subject of the sentence). Adjectives describing it must also be masculine singular nominative. That’s why it’s dobry (not dobra/dobre) and ważny (not ważna/ważne).

What case is sen in, and why?

Sen is in the nominative case because it’s the subject of the sentence. The structure is Subject (Dobry sen) + Verb (jest) + Predicate adjective (ważny).

Why does the predicate adjective stay in the nominative case instead of using, say, the instrumental?