Learn Hardcore Polish: To jest mój chłopak, a tam stoi jego dziewczyna. - This is my boyfriend, and over there his girlfriend is standing.

You could say On jest moim chłopakiem (He is my boyfriend), but that has a slightly different structure and feel. It’s more like a generic statement about him rather than a pointing/introduction phrase.

Ten jest is possible but rare alone; you’d normally need a noun with it, e.g. Ten chłopak jest mój (That boy is mine). For “This is my boyfriend”, the natural everyday pattern is To jest mój chłopak (or the shorter To mój chłopak, see below).

What exactly does to mean here? Is it “this”, “that”, or “it”?

To here is a general demonstrative pronoun. In English you have to choose between this, that, and it, but Polish to can cover all of them depending on context:

To jest mój chłopak.
– This is my boyfriend. (if he’s near you)
– That is my boyfriend. (if he’s a bit further away)
– That’s my boyfriend. (neutral, most natural English)

So you don’t have to choose between “this/that/it” in Polish. To is neutral and very common in identification sentences: To jest…

Why is it mój chłopak and not something like mój chłopiec or mój przyjaciel?

Polish chłopak literally means boy or young man, but in everyday language it very often means boyfriend.

mój chłopak – usually “my boyfriend”
jakiś chłopak – some (young) guy/boy
chłopiec – “boy” as a child, not a boyfriend
przyjaciel – “(male) friend”, not romantic by default

So:

To jest mój chłopak. – This is my boyfriend.
To jest mój przyjaciel. – This is my (male) friend.
To jest mój chłopiec. – Sounds like you’re talking about a child (your son, or a boy you’re responsible for), not a romantic partner.

In this sentence, mój chłopak is the normal way to say my boyfriend.

Why is it mój chłopak (nominative) and not mojego chłopaka (accusative or genitive)?

After to jest the noun is in the nominative case (the dictionary form):

To jest mój chłopak. – nominative chłopak
To jest moja dziewczyna. – nominative dziewczyna
To jest mój brat.

This is because to jest works like “X equals Y”:

to (subject) = mój chłopak (complement)

In Polish, in these identification sentences, that complement uses nominative.

You would use mojego chłopaka (accusative) after verbs like mieć (to have):

Mam chłopaka. – I have a boyfriend.
Widzę twojego chłopaka. – I see your boyfriend.

So:
to jest + nominative,
mam / widzę / znam + accusative.

Can you also say To mój chłopak without jest?

Yes, very often.

To jest mój chłopak. – fully explicit
To mój chłopak. – perfectly natural, especially in speech

Dropping jest in this structure is very common and sounds normal, especially when pointing someone out. Both versions are correct; To jest… is a bit more “complete” or neutral; To… is slightly more casual or quick.

What is the difference between a and i? Why does the sentence use a tam stoi… and not i tam stoi…?

Both a and i can be translated as “and”, but they are used differently:

i = simple addition, like “and” in lists:
- Mam kota i psa. – I have a cat and a dog.
a = contrast or “and meanwhile / whereas”, often showing a difference between two things or locations:
- To jest mój chłopak, a tam stoi jego dziewczyna.
  Literally: This is my boyfriend, and over there stands his girlfriend (as opposed to here).

Using a highlights that the second part contrasts in some way with the first (here vs there, this person vs that person, etc.).
You could say i tam stoi, but a tam stoi sounds more natural here because you’re contrasting where the two people are.

Why is the word order tam stoi jego dziewczyna and not jego dziewczyna stoi tam?

Both are grammatically correct; the difference is emphasis:

Tam stoi jego dziewczyna.
– Emphasis on tam: Over there stands his girlfriend.
You’re focusing on the location first.
Jego dziewczyna stoi tam.
– Emphasis on jego dziewczyna: His girlfriend is standing there.
You’re focusing on who is standing.

Polish word order is relatively flexible, especially in simple sentences, and speakers use it to highlight what is important or new in the context. In your sentence, starting with tam matches the idea “Here is X, and over there is Y.”

Why does the sentence use stoi (“stands”) and not just jest (“is”)?

Polish often uses “posture verbs” like:

stać – to stand
siedzieć – to sit
leżeć – to lie

to describe where someone or something is, even when English would just say “is”.

So:

Tam stoi jego dziewczyna. – Literally: Over there stands his girlfriend.
Natural English: His girlfriend is (standing) over there.

You could say:

Tam jest jego dziewczyna. – His girlfriend is there.

That is also correct, but stoi gives a bit more imagery: she is standing there, not just located there in a vague way. In everyday speech, both jest and stoi are possible, with stoi sounding a bit more visual or concrete.

How do possessive adjectives work here? Why mój chłopak but jego dziewczyna, and why doesn’t jego change?

There are two different types of possessives in the sentence:

mój – a regular possessive adjective that changes with gender, number, and case:
- mój chłopak – my boyfriend (masculine)
- moja dziewczyna – my girlfriend (feminine)
- moje dziecko – my child (neuter)
So mój agrees with chłopak (masculine singular nominative).
jego – the possessive form of on (he/him).
It is invariable: it never changes form for gender, number, or case.
- jego chłopak – his boyfriend
- jego dziewczyna – his girlfriend
- jego dziecko – his child

So:

mój changes form (mój / moja / moje / etc.),
jego stays exactly jego in all situations.

Could you use swój instead of jego here? What would Tam stoi jego dziewczyna vs Tam stoi jego dziewczyna mean?

The reflexive possessive swój / swoja / swoje… refers back to the subject of the clause.

Compare:

On kocha swoją dziewczynę. – He loves his (own) girlfriend.
(swoją refers back to on.)
On kocha jego dziewczynę. – He loves his (another man’s) girlfriend.
(jego usually refers to some other male, not the subject.)

In your original sentence:

To jest mój chłopak, a tam stoi jego dziewczyna.

There is no he as a grammatical subject in the second clause, so swoja would be odd here. The subject is dziewczyna (she), so:

Tam stoi jego dziewczyna. – His girlfriend is standing over there.

jego simply refers to some male person already known from context. It might be the same guy as mój chłopak or some other man, depending on context. If you wanted “my boyfriend, and over there stands his own girlfriend” (in a reflexive sense), you’d normally rephrase to include on in that clause, e.g.:

To jest mój chłopak, a tam stoi jego dziewczyna.
– ambiguous, context decides whose girl she is.
To jest on, a tam stoi jego dziewczyna.
– explicitly: This is him, and over there stands his girlfriend.

How do you pronounce chłopak and dziewczyna?

Approximate pronunciations (in English-style spelling):

chłopak – [HWO-pak]
- ch – like h in house
- ł – like English w
- stress on the first syllable: CHŁO-pak
dziewczyna – [jyev-CHIH-na]
- dz
  - ie ≈ like English j in jeans
    - ye: dje / jye
- wcz – fch-like cluster: v-ch
- y – like the i in bit, but a bit deeper
- stress on the second syllable: dzie-WCZY-na

Polish always has fixed stress on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable in standard words like these: CHŁO-pak, dziew-CZY-na.

Why is it mój chłopak (masculine) but jego dziewczyna (feminine), and does the verb stoi change with gender?

The gender differences are in the nouns and adjectives, not in the verb here:

chłopak – masculine noun → mój chłopak
dziewczyna – feminine noun
but the possessive jego does not change for gender

The verb stoi is 3rd person singular of stać and is the same for he, she, or it:

On stoi. – He is standing.
Ona stoi. – She is standing.
To stoi. – It is standing.

So in tam stoi jego dziewczyna, stoi does not show gender; only dziewczyna (feminine) tells you the subject is female.