W ogrodzie jest wąska ścieżka.

There is a narrow path in the garden.

Breakdown of W ogrodzie jest wąska ścieżka.

• być: to be
• w: in
• wąski: narrow
• ogród: the garden
• ścieżka: the path

Questions & Answers about W ogrodzie jest wąska ścieżka.

What does jest mean in this sentence, and where is the equivalent of English “there”?

Here jest is the 3rd person singular of być (to be), used in an existential construction. Polish doesn’t use a separate word for “there” in sentences like this. You simply say W ogrodzie jest wąska ścieżka, which literally means “In the garden is a narrow path.”

Why is ogrodzie used instead of ogród?

The preposition w (in) requires the locative case. The locative singular of the masculine noun ogród is ogrodzie.

Why is ścieżka in the nominative case here, not the genitive or another case?

In existential sentences with jest or są, the noun that denotes what exists appears in the nominative case.

Why isn’t there an article a or the before wąska ścieżka?

Polish has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context or word order, so you simply say wąska ścieżka for “a narrow path.”

How do wąska and ścieżka agree in gender, number, and case?

Ścieżka is a feminine, singular noun in the nominative case. The adjective wąska must match it in gender (feminine), number (singular), and case (nominative), so it also ends in -a.

Is the word order in W ogrodzie jest wąska ścieżka fixed? Could you rearrange it for emphasis?

Polish word order is fairly flexible. You could say Jest wąska ścieżka w ogrodzie or Wąska ścieżka jest w ogrodzie, but starting with the location (W ogrodzie…) is the most neutral. Changing the order shifts which element you highlight.

How do you pronounce the special letters ą, ś, ż and the cluster dzie in this sentence?

• ą in wąska is a nasal vowel, similar to on in French bon.
• ś is a soft “sh,” softer than English sh (think sh
  • slight y).
• ż is like zh in measure.
• dzie in ogrodzie is pronounced as [d͡ʑe], an affricate like the j in jeans but starting with a d touch.
  Putting it together: W ogrodzie jest wąska ścieżka ≈ “voh-GRO-dje yest VON-ska shchyehsh-ka.”

Can you replace jest with znajduje się here?

Yes. You can say W ogrodzie znajduje się wąska ścieżka, which is a bit more formal and literally means “In the garden is located a narrow path,” but conveys the same idea.