Breakdown of Dzisiaj moja babcia ma urodziny.
Questions & Answers about Dzisiaj moja babcia ma urodziny.
In Polish, the natural way to say "It’s someone’s birthday" is usually by using the verb mieć (to have):
Moja babcia ma dzisiaj urodziny. – My grandma has her birthday today.
Using jest in this structure (jest urodziny) is ungrammatical. If you want a structure with "to be", you say:
- Dzisiaj są urodziny mojej babci. – Today is my grandma’s birthday. (literally: Today are my grandma’s birthdayS.)
So:
- ktoś ma urodziny – someone has a birthday
- są urodziny kogoś – it is someone’s birthday
Both are correct, but the verb changes:
- with kto? (who?) as subject → ma
- with urodziny as grammatical subject → są (plural)
Urodziny is a plural-only noun in Polish (pluralia tantum). It has no singular form in normal usage:
- urodziny – birthday (always grammatically plural)
- Mam urodziny. – I have a birthday / It’s my birthday.
- Jej urodziny są w maju. – Her birthday is in May.
Even though English uses the singular (birthday), Polish treats urodziny like other naturally plural words such as:
- drzwi – door (always plural form)
- spodnie – trousers
So you must use plural verb forms with urodziny as the subject:
- Urodziny są dzisiaj. – The birthday is today. (literally: Birthdays are today.)
The form of "my" must match the gender and case of the noun:
- babcia – grandmother, feminine, nominative singular
- Feminine nominative singular form of "my" is moja.
The main forms of "my" in nominative are:
- mój – masculine (e.g. mój brat – my brother)
- moja – feminine (e.g. moja babcia – my grandma)
- moje – neuter (e.g. moje dziecko – my child)
So with babcia you must say moja babcia.
Babcia is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence:
- Dzisiaj moja babcia ma urodziny.
Today my grandma has a birthday.
– Who has a birthday? Moja babcia → subject → nominative.
Other forms would appear in different functions:
- babcię – accusative (e.g. Widzę babcię. – I see grandma.)
- babci – genitive or dative (e.g. nie ma babci – grandma is not here; daj babci – give it to grandma)
Here we need the subject form, so babcia.
In Dzisiaj moja babcia ma urodziny, urodziny is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the verb ma (has).
- kto? co? (who? what?) – nominative (subject)
- kogo? co? (whom? what?) – accusative (direct object)
Ask:
- Kto ma urodziny? – Moja babcia. (nominative, subject)
- Co moja babcia ma? – Urodziny. (accusative, object)
For this particular noun, nominative plural and accusative plural have the same form: urodziny. The function in the sentence tells you which it is.
Yes, you can say:
- Dzisiaj moja babcia ma swoje urodziny.
Here swoje is the reflexive possessive “one’s own” and refers back to the subject (moja babcia). Both sentences are grammatical:
- Moja babcia ma urodziny. – My grandma has a birthday.
- Moja babcia ma swoje urodziny. – My grandma has her own birthday.
In this context, swoje sounds a bit redundant in everyday speech, because it’s obvious the birthday is hers. Sentence 1 is more natural and common. Sentence 2 can add a tiny bit of emphasis or contrast (as in “it’s her birthday today, not someone else’s”).
Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible, and all of these are correct:
- Dzisiaj moja babcia ma urodziny.
- Moja babcia ma dzisiaj urodziny.
- Moja babcia dzisiaj ma urodziny.
The basic meaning is the same. The differences are mostly about what you emphasize:
- Starting with Dzisiaj emphasizes today:
Today, my grandma has a birthday (as opposed to another day). - Starting with Moja babcia emphasizes your grandma:
My grandma has a birthday today (as opposed to someone else).
All are natural in conversation.
Both mean “today”, and grammatically they are interchangeable:
- Dzisiaj moja babcia ma urodziny.
- Dziś moja babcia ma urodziny.
Differences:
- dziś is a shorter, slightly more concise form.
- Some people feel dziś is a bit more literary or neutral-elegant, while dzisiaj is more everyday spoken—but both are common in speech and writing.
- There is no change of tense or meaning; it’s just a stylistic choice.
Polish uses present tense with mieć urodziny for the current occurrence:
- Moja babcia ma dzisiaj urodziny.
– My grandma’s birthday is today (this year).
This is similar to English present-simple for scheduled or factual things:
- My birthday is today.
- Christmas is on the 25th.
You can also talk more generally about the date of the birthday:
- Moja babcia ma urodziny 30 grudnia.
– My grandma’s birthday is on December 30th.
You can say:
- Dzisiaj są urodziny mojej babci.
Explanation:
- urodziny are grammatically plural → verb must be są (3rd person plural of być – to be).
- mojej babci is genitive singular (answering czyje? – whose?).
So:
- Dzisiaj są urodziny mojej babci. – Today is my grandma’s birthday.
- Moja babcia ma dzisiaj urodziny. – My grandma has a birthday today.
Both are fully natural and common.
Because urodziny is grammatically plural, so you must use the plural verb:
- ❌ Dzisiaj jest urodziny mojej babci. – ungrammatical
- ✅ Dzisiaj są urodziny mojej babci.
Agreement rule:
- Urodziny – plural noun → są (they are), były (they were), etc.
A natural Polish version:
- Dzisiaj moja babcia ma osiemdziesiąte urodziny.
(literally: Today my grandma has eightieth birthday.)
Or with "to be":
- Dzisiaj są osiemdziesiąte urodziny mojej babci.
Note:
- Ordinal number osiemdziesiąte agrees with urodziny (plural, non-masculine-personal).