Learn Hardcore Polish: Nauka polskiego jest ważna.

learning / study – the process or activity of studying something
- Nauka polskiego = the learning/study of Polish
science – as a field of knowledge
- nauki ścisłe = the sciences (STEM fields)

In Nauka polskiego jest ważna, it clearly means “learning / studying Polish”, not “Polish science”. Context normally makes the meaning obvious.

Why is it polskiego and not polski?

This is because of case.

The base form (dictionary form) is polski (“Polish”).
After nauka (“learning/study”), Polish uses the genitive case:
- nauka czego? (“learning of what?”) → polskiego

So:

polski = nominative (basic form)
polskiego = genitive singular (masculine / neuter)

Literally, the structure is like “learning of (the) Polish (language)”, so the language word goes into genitive.

Why is polskiego not capitalized, even though “Polish” is in English?

In Polish:

Languages are written with a small letter:
- polski, angielski, niemiecki (Polish, English, German)
Nationality adjectives used with people or proper names are usually capitalized only if they are part of a proper name (e.g. Polska Akademia Nauk – Polish Academy of Sciences), but in ordinary use they’re also lowercase:
- polski student = Polish student

So polskiego is lowercase because it refers to the Polish language, and language names are not capitalized in Polish.

Why is it ważna and not ważny or ważne?

Ważna / ważny / ważne are different gender forms of the adjective ważny (“important”) in the nominative singular:

ważny – masculine
ważna – feminine
ważne – neuter

The adjective has to agree in gender and number with the noun it describes.

nauka is a feminine noun.
Therefore, you must use the feminine form: ważna.

So:

Nauka polskiego jest ważna. – correct (feminine)
Nauka polskiego jest ważny / ważne. – incorrect, wrong gender agreement.

Is nauka feminine? How can I tell?

Yes, nauka is feminine.

Common hints:

Many nouns ending in -a are feminine:
- kawa (coffee), książka (book), szkola (school), nauka (learning/science)
Adjectives describing them take the feminine forms:
- dobra kawa (good coffee)
- ciekawa książka (interesting book)
- ważna nauka (important learning)

That’s why we say jest ważna, not jest ważny / ważne.

Could I say Nauka Polski jest ważna instead?

Grammatically, Nauka Polski is possible, but it means something different:

Nauka polskiego = learning (the) Polish language
Nauka Polski = learning about Poland (as a country, as a subject)

So if you want to say “Learning Polish (the language) is important”, you must use polskiego, not Polski.

Is polskiego a noun (like “Polish”) or an adjective here?

Grammatically, polskiego is an adjective, the genitive form of polski.

However, in phrases like nauka polskiego, the word języka (“language”) is understood but omitted:

Full form: nauka języka polskiego
Common shortened form: nauka polskiego

So:

język polski = the Polish language
polskiego here = “of the Polish (language)” (adjective in genitive agreeing with implied języka)

Could I say Nauka języka polskiego jest ważna? Is that better or more formal?

Yes, Nauka języka polskiego jest ważna is fully correct and sounds a bit more explicit and formal.

Differences:

Nauka polskiego jest ważna.
- Shorter, very natural in everyday speech and writing.
Nauka języka polskiego jest ważna.
- More explicit (literally “learning the Polish language”), a bit more formal or careful but still very normal.

Both are correct; you can use either depending on style and context.

Can I change the word order to Ważna jest nauka polskiego? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Nauka polskiego jest ważna.
Ważna jest nauka polskiego.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing: “Learning Polish is important.”

The difference is mostly emphasis:

Nauka polskiego jest ważna.
- Neutral; slight focus on “learning Polish” as the topic.
Ważna jest nauka polskiego.
- Emphasizes that it is important (ważna) that we’re talking about; stylistically a bit more “sentence of comment” style.

In everyday conversation, the original order (Nauka polskiego jest ważna) is more common.

Can I drop jest and say Nauka polskiego ważna?

In standard, neutral Polish, you should keep jest:

Nauka polskiego jest ważna. – correct, normal
Nauka polskiego ważna. – sounds incomplete or like a headline / very informal speech.

In some spoken, very colloquial Polish, people may omit jest with adjectives (e.g. Ona ładna instead of Ona jest ładna), but for learners it’s much safer and more natural to always include jest in sentences like this.

What’s the difference between Nauka polskiego jest ważna and Uczenie się polskiego jest ważne?

Both translate to “Learning Polish is important.”, but there is a nuance:

Nauka polskiego jest ważna.
- Uses the noun nauka (“learning/study”).
- Slightly more neutral / general: the process or subject of studying Polish.
Uczenie się polskiego jest ważne.
- Uses a verbal noun phrase: uczenie się (“the act of learning oneself”).
- Puts a bit more emphasis on the ongoing activity of “learning (for yourself)”.

Both are correct and natural; in everyday use, Nauka polskiego jest ważna is slightly shorter and very common.

How do you pronounce Nauka polskiego jest ważna?

Approximate English-style pronunciation (not IPA, but close enough to help):

Nauka → NAH-oo-kah
- au like “a” + “oo” quickly together
polskiego → pol-SKYEH-go
- pol like “pol” in “Poland”
- skie like skyeh (one syllable: skyeh)
- go like “go” but shorter
jest → yest (like “yest” in “yesterday”)
ważna → VAZH-nah
- ż like the s in measure or vision
- sz (when it appears in other words) is like English sh

Stress in Polish is almost always on the second-to-last syllable:

NAU-ka pol-SKIE-go jest WAŻ-na.