Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

This movie is more sad than yesterday’s series.

Breakdown of Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

• być: to be
• ten: this
• film: the movie
• niż: than
• smutny: sad
• bardziej: more
• serial: the series
• wczorajszy: yesterday's

Questions & Answers about Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

Why do we say “ten film” and not just “film”?

In Polish, “ten” is a demonstrative adjective meaning “this” (masculine, singular).

• Ten film = this film / this movie
• Film = a / the film in a more general sense

You can absolutely say:

• Film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

This is grammatically correct and often used in neutral statements.

Using “ten film” makes it clear you mean a specific film already known from context, similar to stressing “this movie” in English, not just “the movie” in general.

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Why is “jest” necessary? Can we drop the verb “to be” like in some other languages?

In standard Polish, you cannot normally drop “jest” in full sentences like this.

• Correct:
  Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.
  (This film is sadder than yesterday’s series.)

• Incorrect in normal speech:
  Ten film bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

You may see the verb omitted in headlines, notes, or very telegraphic style, for example:

• Ten film bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial – as a newspaper title or informal note.

But in ordinary spoken or written Polish, you should keep “jest” in such sentences.

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Why is it “bardziej smutny” and not “smutniejszy”? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct:

• Ten film jest smutniejszy niż wczorajszy serial.
• Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

They both mean “This film is sadder than yesterday’s series.”

Details:

• smutny → smutniejszy
  This is the synthetic comparative (one-word form), and it is more natural and more common in everyday speech.
• bardziej smutny
  This is the analytic comparative (using “bardziej” = “more”
  • adjective).
    It is also correct, but for short, simple adjectives like smutny, Poles usually prefer the synthetic form smutniejszy.

Analytic comparatives are required for many longer adjectives:

• interesujący → bardziej interesujący (not interesująjszy)
• skomplikowany → bardziej skomplikowany

So here, both are fine, but “smutniejszy” is stylistically more typical.

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What is the difference between “niż” and “od” in comparisons? Could I say “od wczorajszego serialu” instead?

Yes, you can use either “niż” or “od” here, but the grammar changes:

1. With niż:

   • Ten film jest smutniejszy niż wczorajszy serial.
     After “niż”, the compared element is usually in the same case as before.
     Here, “film” is nominative, so “serial” is nominative too.

2. With od:

   • Ten film jest smutniejszy od wczorajszego serialu.
     After “od”, you use the genitive case (kogo? czego?).
     So “wczorajszy serial” → “wczorajszego serialu”.

Meaning-wise, in this sentence they are practically the same:
“This film is sadder than yesterday’s series.”

Some patterns:

• Both possible:

  • większy niż / większy od (bigger than)
  • smutniejszy niż / smutniejszy od

• Fixed or strongly preferred combinations:

  • inny niż (different than/from) – not inny od in standard language
  • lepszy od and gorszy od are very common, though lepszy niż also exists.

For learners, it’s safe to remember:

• “niż” → same case as before
• “od” → genitive after it

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Why doesn’t “wczorajszy serial” change form after “niż”? Shouldn’t there be some case ending?

The case does matter, but here it stays the same.

The structure is:

• Ten film (nominative)
• jest smutniejszy niż
• wczorajszy serial (also nominative)

With “niż”, the compared phrase normally appears in the same case as the element you compare it to:

• Ten film (NOM) jest smutniejszy niż ten serial (NOM).
• Ta książka (NOM) jest ciekawsza niż tamta książka (NOM).

Compare with “od”, where the case changes:

• Ten film jest smutniejszy od wczorajszego serialu. (GEN)

So there is grammar going on, but the nominative forms of adjectives (wczorajszy) and many masculine nouns (serial) look like the dictionary form, which makes it less obvious.

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Why is the adjective before the noun: “wczorajszy serial” and not “serial wczorajszy”?

In modern Polish, adjectives almost always come before the noun in neutral sentences:

• wczorajszy serial – yesterday’s series
• smutny film – a sad film
• ciekawa książka – an interesting book

The order adjective + noun is the normal, unmarked pattern.

The opposite order, noun + adjective, does appear, but:

• in poetic, literary, or stylistically marked contexts
• for emphasis or special tone

For example:

• film smutny – might sound poetic or solemn, like “a film, sad indeed”
• serial wczorajszy – very unusual in normal speech; would sound poetic or archaic.

So in everyday Polish, you should basically always put the adjective before the noun.

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How does adjective agreement work here: “ten film”, “bardziej smutny”, “wczorajszy serial”?

Polish adjectives (and demonstratives like “ten”) must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

In this sentence:

1. film

   • masculine, singular, nominative
   • so we use:
     
     • ten film (this
       • masculine singular nom.)
     • smutny (sad
       • masc. sg. nom.)
     • together: ten film jest bardziej smutny

2. serial

   • masculine, singular, nominative
   • so we use:
     
     • wczorajszy serial (yesterday’s series; both words masc. sg. nom.)

Some contrasts:

• ta książka (this book, feminine) – książka jest smutna
• to dziecko (this child, neuter) – dziecko jest smutne

So:

• ten film – masculine
• ta książka – feminine
• to auto / to dziecko – neuter

All adjectives and “ten/ta/to” must match the noun’s gender, number, and case.

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What exactly does “wczorajszy” mean, and could I say “serial z wczoraj” instead?

“wczorajszy” is an adjective built from “wczoraj” (yesterday). It means “yesterday’s”:

• wczorajszy serial – yesterday’s series / the show from yesterday
• wczorajsza gazeta – yesterday’s newspaper
• wczorajsze wiadomości – yesterday’s news

You can also say:

• serial z wczoraj – literally “the series from yesterday”

Both are correct and natural. Style difference:

• wczorajszy serial – a bit more compact, slightly more “adjectival”/formal
• serial z wczoraj – slightly more colloquial / spoken-style, but very common

In your sentence, either is fine:

• Ten film jest smutniejszy niż wczorajszy serial.
• Ten film jest smutniejszy niż serial z wczoraj.

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Can I change the word order, for example: “Ten film jest niż wczorajszy serial bardziej smutny”?

That specific order:

• ✗ Ten film jest niż wczorajszy serial bardziej smutny.

is unnatural and incorrect in standard Polish.

Some acceptable variations:

1. Most natural:

   • Ten film jest smutniejszy niż wczorajszy serial.
   • Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

2. With slightly emphasized “sadder” part:

   • Ten film jest o wiele smutniejszy niż wczorajszy serial.
   • Ten film jest dużo bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.

3. You can move “ten film” a bit for emphasis:

   • Bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial jest ten film. – possible, but stylistically heavy; used for emphasis, not in casual speech.

But “niż” must stay right before the thing you’re comparing to, and “bardziej” should stay right before “smutny”. You cannot freely separate them.

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What is the difference between “bardzo smutny” and “bardziej smutny”?

They express different ideas:

• bardzo smutny = very sad

  • intensifies the adjective, no comparison
  • Ten film jest bardzo smutny.
    → This film is very sad.

• bardziej smutny = sadder / more sad

  • comparative form; compares two things
  • Ten film jest bardziej smutny niż wczorajszy serial.
    → This film is sadder than yesterday’s series.

So:

• bardzo = very (intensity)
• bardziej = more (comparison)

They are not interchangeable.