Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.

An intensive workout after work is hard.

Breakdown of Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.

• być: to be
• trudny: difficult
• po: after
• praca: the work
• trening: the training
• intensywny: intensive

Questions & Answers about Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.

Why is intensywny used here and not intensywny trening with some extra ending or something? How does the adjective agree with trening?

In Polish, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number and case.

• trening is:
  • masculine
  • singular
  • in the nominative case (it’s the subject of the sentence)

So the adjective must also be:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

For a regular masculine adjective like intensywny, the nominative singular ending is -y:

• intensywny trening – intensive training (masc. sg. nom.)
• nowy trening – new training
• długi trening – long training

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the adjective would change:

• intensywna sesja (feminine)
• intensywne ćwiczenie (neuter)

Here, intensywny matches trening in all three categories, so this form is required.

Why is there no word for a or the like in English? How do I know if this is “an intensive training” or “the intensive training”?

Polish does not use articles (a, an, the) at all. The noun phrase intensywny trening can mean:

• intensive training (in general)
• an intensive training (one instance, not specific)
• the intensive training (a specific one you have in mind)

Context tells you which meaning is intended. For example:

• Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
  Could mean: “Intensive training after work is difficult (in general).”

• Ten intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
  Using ten (“this/that”) makes it clearly “this/the intensive training after work is difficult.”

To make it more specific, Polish often uses demonstratives like:

• ten / ta / to – this/that (masc./fem./neut.)
• ten trening – this/the training

Why is it po pracy and not po praca or po pracę?

The preposition po (in the sense of after in time expressions) requires the locative case.

• The noun praca (work) has the locative singular form pracy.
• So po
  • praca → po pracy (after work).

Other examples:

• po obiedzie – after lunch (from obiad, locative obiedzie)
• po szkole – after school (from szkoła, locative szkole)

po pracę (accusative) also exists but has a different meaning: “(go) for work / to get work”:

• Idę po pracę. – I’m going to get work / in search of a job.

In your sentence, we’re talking about time (“after work”), so we must use po pracy (locative).

What case is trening in, and why?

trening is in the nominative case. Reasons:

• It is the subject of the sentence:
  “Intensive training after work is difficult.”
• In a basic X jest Y sentence where X is the thing you describe, X is nominative:
  • Trening jest trudny. – Training is difficult.
  • Film jest ciekawy. – The film is interesting.

So trening as the subject stays in the nominative form.

Why is it jest trudny, not jest trudno or to trudne? What’s the difference?

You have three different patterns here:

1. X jest ADJECTIVE

   • Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
     Literally: “Intensive training after work is difficult.”
     Here, trudny is an adjective describing trening (masc. singular), so it agrees in gender and number.

2. Jest ADVERB (impersonal)

   • Jest trudno. – “It is difficult” / “It’s hard.”
     No specific subject is mentioned. trudno is an adverb, not agreeing with any noun. This is more like a general statement or reaction.

3. X to ADJECTIVE (neuter)

   • Intensywny trening po pracy to trudne.
     Grammatically possible but sounds incomplete/odd in normal speech, because trudne is neuter and we lack a clear neuter noun.
   • More natural: Intensywny trening po pracy to trudna rzecz.
     “Intensive training after work is a difficult thing.”

In your sentence, we clearly describe a specific noun (trening), so the most natural structure is X jest ADJECTIVE → jest trudny.

Why is trudny and not trudne or trudna at the end?

Again, this is about agreement:

• trening is:
  • masculine
  • singular
  • nominative (subject)

The adjective trudny must match it:

• masculine singular nominative → trudny

Other forms:

• trudna praca – difficult work (feminine)
• trudne zadanie – difficult task (neuter)
• trudne treningi – difficult trainings (plural)

So trudny is chosen because it fits trening.

Can I change the word order? For example, could I say Po pracy intensywny trening jest trudny or Jest trudny intensywny trening po pracy?

Yes, Polish allows quite flexible word order, as long as grammar (cases, endings) is correct. But the default, neutral order is:

• Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.

Some variants and their feel:

• Po pracy intensywny trening jest trudny.
  Acceptable. Slight emphasis on “after work”, like: As for after work, intensive training is difficult.

• Intensywny trening jest trudny po pracy.
  Emphasizes that it’s specifically difficult after work, not necessarily at other times.

• Jest trudny intensywny trening po pracy.
  Grammatically possible, but feels more poetic or stylistically marked. Not typical neutral speech.

For learners, it’s best to stick with the original word order until you feel more comfortable with Polish emphasis patterns.

Could I drop jest and say Intensywny trening po pracy trudny?

In modern standard Polish, you normally keep jest in such sentences.
Intensywny trening po pracy trudny sounds incomplete or archaic.

In:

• Present tense: X jest Y – you usually need the verb:
  • Ten film jest dobry. – This film is good.
  • Ten człowiek jest miły. – This person is nice.

In some headlines, notes, lists, or slogans, you might see jest omitted for brevity:

• Ten film – dobry.
• Intensywny trening po pracy – trudny! (like a heading on a poster)

But in normal full sentences, keep jest:
Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.

What exactly does intensywny imply? Is it the same as “hard” like ciężki or trudny?

intensywny focuses on the intensity: a lot of effort, high pace, many exercises per unit of time. It’s close to:

• “intense”
• “high-intensity”

Compare:

• intensywny trening – training with high intensity (intervals, sprints, heavy workload)
• ciężki trening – a “hard/physically heavy” training; tiring, demanding (can be similar to intensywny, but can also just mean it felt heavy)
• trudny trening – a difficult training (maybe technically difficult, or physically demanding, or mentally challenging)

In your sentence, trudny judges how hard it is; intensywny describes the training style.
You could combine them:

• Intensywny trening po pracy jest bardzo ciężki.
• Taki trening jest trudny i wyczerpujący.

What does po pracy literally mean, and can I use the same structure with other times?

Literally, po pracy = after work.

You can use po + a time-related noun (in locative) to mean “after X”:

• po szkole – after school
• po obiedzie – after lunch
• po treningu – after (the) training
• po lekcjach – after classes
• po zajęciach – after classes/activities

All these nouns are in the locative case because po (in the temporal sense “after”) requires locative.

So the pattern is:

• po
  • [time/event noun in locative] → “after [that event]”

Is trening a specific training session here, or training in general? How do I make it clearly general or clearly one particular session?

By itself, intensywny trening can be generic or specific; context decides.

1. Generic (training in general)

   • Intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
     Can mean: “Having intensive training after work (as a type of thing) is difficult.”

2. Specific (one session or regular repeated session)
   To make it clearly specific, you can add words like:

   • ten – this/that
   • mój – my
   • dzisiejszy – today’s

   Examples:

   • Ten intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
     “This intensive training after work is difficult.”
   • Mój intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
     “My intensive training after work is difficult.”
   • Dzisiejszy intensywny trening po pracy jest trudny.
     “Today’s intensive training after work is difficult.”

Without such words, it’s often interpreted as a more general statement.

How do you pronounce trening, pracy, trudny and where is the stress in the sentence?

Polish almost always stresses the second-to-last syllable of a word.

Word by word (approximate English-style transcription):

• Intensywny – in-ten-SYV-ny

  • Stress on -syv-
  • w is like English v

• trening – TRE-ning

  • Stress on tre-
  • Both e are like “e” in “pet” (but a bit shorter)

• po – po

  • Like English “po” in “pocket” but without the “cket”

• pracy – PRA-tsy

  • Stress on pra-
  • r is rolled
  • c is pronounced like ts
  • So -cy → “tsy”

• jest – yest

  • Like “yest” in “yesterday”

• trudny – TRUD-ny

  • Stress on trud-
  • u like “oo” in “book” (a bit shorter)
  • ny a soft n plus short “i”-ish sound

Sentence stress (main emphasis) would naturally fall on trudny or intensywny trening, depending on what you want to highlight, but each word keeps its own internal stress on the second-to-last syllable.