Questions & Answers about Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy.
Because piosenki is in the genitive case, and Polish often uses the genitive to show possession or a close relationship between two nouns.
You can think of tekst piosenki as literally “the text of (the) song”.
- piosenka – nominative singular (dictionary form): a song / the song
- piosenki – genitive singular: of a song / of the song
In Polish, this structure is very common:
- tekst książki – the text of the book
- autor filmu – the author of the film
- okładka zeszytu – the cover of the notebook
So tekst piosenki = the lyrics (text) of the song.
Here piosenki is singular, genitive case.
That’s confusing for English speakers because:
- piosenka – song (nominative singular)
- piosenki –
- genitive singular (“of the song”), and
- nominative plural (“songs”)
In this phrase:
tekst piosenki = the text of the song → genitive singular
If it were plural (“of the songs”), it would be:teksty piosenek – the texts of the songs / the songs’ lyrics
Polish has no articles like “a/an” or “the”. The phrase Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy can mean several things, depending on context:
- The song’s lyrics are interesting.
- Song lyrics are interesting. (if we’re talking about a specific song already known)
- A song’s lyrics are interesting.
Whether it’s “a” or “the” is understood from context, not from any separate word in Polish.
Ciekawy is an adjective that must agree with the noun tekst in:
- gender – tekst is masculine
- number – singular
- case – nominative (it’s the subject)
So you get:
- ten tekst jest ciekawy
- masculine singular nominative
If the noun changed, the adjective would change too:
- piosenka jest ciekaw*a – the song is interesting (feminine sg.)
- teksty są ciekawe – the texts are interesting (plural)
- opowiadanie było ciekawe – the short story was interesting (neuter sg.)
Here, because tekst is masculine singular in the nominative, ciekawy is the correct form.
Not in normal, natural Polish. The default and natural order is:
- Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy.
You can move pieces around for emphasis, but not arbitrarily:
- Ciekawy jest tekst piosenki. – It’s the song’s lyrics that are interesting.
- Tekst tej piosenki jest ciekawy. – The lyrics of this song are interesting.
But Piosenki tekst jest ciekawy sounds very unnatural and incorrect in standard Polish. The noun that is being described by the adjective (tekst) should stay clearly in subject position.
Yes, and it’s very natural. There’s a subtle difference:
Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy.
- Literally: The text of the song is interesting.
- Slightly more general or formal; can imply the written text as a whole.
Słowa piosenki są ciekawe.
- Literally: The words of the song are interesting.
- Focuses more specifically on the lyrics/words, often used exactly like “the lyrics are interesting.”
Both are correct. In everyday speech, słowa piosenki is very common when you mean the lyrics.
In normal spoken or written Polish, you should not drop jest here. The correct full sentence is:
- Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy.
You might see jest omitted in:
- headlines
- notes, labels, telegram-style text
- poetry or song lyrics themselves, for stylistic reasons
For example, a headline could be: Tekst piosenki ciekawy – but that’s headline style, not standard full-sentence grammar in everyday speech.
You need plural teksty and genitive plural piosenek, and a plural adjective:
- Teksty piosenek są ciekawe.
- teksty – texts (plural)
- piosenek – of the songs (genitive plural of piosenka)
- są – are
- ciekawe – interesting (plural)
So:
- Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy. – The lyrics of the (one) song are interesting.
- Teksty piosenek są ciekawe. – The lyrics of the songs are interesting.
Both can translate as “interesting”, and both work in this sentence:
- Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy.
- Tekst piosenki jest interesujący.
Nuance:
- ciekawy – very common, general “interesting,” “engaging,” “curious.”
- interesujący – slightly more formal or “bookish,” like English “interesting” vs. “intriguing” or “of interest.”
In everyday conversation, ciekawy is a little more neutral and frequent, but both are correct.
Yes, but the nuance and structure change slightly.
Tekst piosenki jest ciekawy.
- A full statement with the verb jest.
- Neutral, descriptive: The song’s lyrics are interesting.
To ciekawy tekst piosenki.
- Literally: This is an interesting song text / These are interesting lyrics (of a song).
- More like a presentational sentence: This is an interesting song lyric (you’re introducing or pointing something out).
Both are correct; use the first as a straightforward description, the second when you’re presenting or identifying something as interesting.
Approximate English-friendly transcription (stressed syllables in CAPS):
- Tekst – [tekst] (one syllable, like English text but with a clearer e)
- piosenki – [pyo-SEN-kee]
- pio – like “pyo” in pyrotechnic (p + a short “yo” sound)
- sen – like English sen in sent but without the final t
- ki – like key but shorter
- jest – [yest] (like English yest in yesterday without the erday)
- ciekawy – [chye-KA-vy]
- cie – roughly “chye” (soft “ch” + short “e” glide)
- ka – “kah”
- wy – like a short “vi” with the y sound [ɨ], not “vee”
So, syllable by syllable:
- TEKST pyo-SEN-kee yest chye-KA-vy
Polish often shows relationships between two nouns by case endings alone, without prepositions.
In English we need “of” or ’s:
- the text of the song
- the song’s text
In Polish you typically put:
- the main noun in nominative → tekst
- the related noun in genitive → piosenki
So:
- tekst piosenki – the text of the song
- koniec filmu – the end of the movie
- autor książki – the author of the book
No preposition (like of) is needed; the case ending on piosenki does that job.