Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film.

This girl likes the Polish movie.

Breakdown of Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film.

• lubić: to like
• film: the movie
• ta: this
• polski: Polish
• dziewczyna: the girl

Questions & Answers about Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film.

Why is it ta dziewczyna and not tą dziewczyną or tę dziewczynę?

Because dziewczyna is the subject of the sentence, so it must be in the nominative case.

• dziewczyna (girl) – nominative singular feminine
• The demonstrative this in feminine:
  • nominative: ta
  • accusative: tę (in everyday speech very often tą)
  • instrumental: tą

In Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film, the girl is the one doing the action (she is the liker), so we need nominative:

• Ta dziewczyna – this girl as subject.

If the girl were the object, you would use accusative instead:

• Lubię tę dziewczynę – I like this girl.
  (tę / colloquial tą, dziewczynę – accusative)

Can I leave out ta and just say Dziewczyna lubi polski film? What is the difference?

Yes, you can leave it out.

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film. – typically this girl / that girl likes Polish film, more specific or contrastive (not some other girl).
• Dziewczyna lubi polski film. – a girl / the girl likes Polish film, more general; which girl is understood only from context.

Polish normally has no articles (no direct equivalents of a, an, the).
Words like ten / ta / to (this/that) are real demonstratives, but in context they often play the role that the or that would play in English.

What exactly is lubi? Why not lubię or lubią?

lubi is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb lubić (to like).

Present tense of lubić:

• ja lubię – I like
• ty lubisz – you (sg.) like
• on / ona / ono lubi – he / she / it likes
• my lubimy – we like
• wy lubicie – you (pl.) like
• oni / one lubią – they like

The subject here is ta dziewczyna (ona – she), so we must use:

• ona lubi → Ta dziewczyna lubi

Why is it polski film and not polskiego filmu?

Because after lubić (to like) we use the accusative case, and for masculine inanimate nouns the accusative has the same form as the nominative.

For film (masculine inanimate):

• nominative: film
• accusative: film (same)
• genitive: filmu

Similarly for the adjective polski:

• nominative masc. inanimate: polski
• accusative masc. inanimate: polski (same)
• genitive masc. inanimate: polskiego

So:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film. – affirmative, verb takes accusative.
• Ta dziewczyna nie lubi polskiego filmu. – with nie (not), many verbs, including lubić, take genitive instead of accusative in the negative.

So polskiego filmu is genitive, used e.g. after nie lubi; in the basic positive sentence we need polski film.

Why is it polski film and not polska film or polskie film?

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

• film is masculine singular.
• In nominative/accusative masculine singular (inanimate), the adjective ends in -i: polski.

Compare:

• polski film – a Polish film (masc. sg.)
• polska książka – a Polish book (fem. sg.)
• polskie kino – a Polish cinema (neut. sg.)
• polskie filmy – Polish films (pl.)

So only polski film is grammatically correct in this sentence.

Does Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film talk about one specific film, or Polish films in general?

On its own, polski film could mean:

• one specific Polish film, or
• Polish film as a kind or category (roughly Polish cinema).

In natural usage, if you mean Polish films in general, people more often say:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polskie filmy. – This girl likes Polish films.
• Ta dziewczyna lubi polskie kino. – This girl likes Polish cinema.

To clearly mean one specific film, it is common to add a demonstrative:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi ten polski film. – This girl likes this (that) Polish film.

How do I say This girl likes Polish films (in general) instead of a single film?

Use the plural:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polskie filmy.

Forms used here:

• polskie – adjective polski in plural accusative (non‑masculine‑personal)
• filmy – plural nominative/accusative of film

So the structure is the same: subject in nominative (Ta dziewczyna), verb (lubi), object in accusative plural (polskie filmy).

Can I change the word order, for example to Polski film lubi ta dziewczyna?

Yes. Polish word order is flexible because roles are marked by case endings, not by position.

All of these are grammatically possible:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film. – neutral, standard (subject–verb–object).
• Polski film lubi ta dziewczyna. – emphasizes this girl (as opposed to others).
• Ta dziewczyna polski film lubi. – emphasizes likes, somewhat stylistic or expressive.
• Polski film ta dziewczyna lubi. – emphasizes Polish film (not some other kind).

For a learner, the safest neutral order is:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film.

Why is there no separate word for the in this sentence?

Polish does not have articles like a / an / the.

• dziewczyna can mean a girl or the girl, depending on context.
• Ta dziewczyna strongly suggests this girl / that girl, often what English would express as this girl or the girl in a specific situation.

So:

• Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film.
  can correspond to English:
  • This girl likes Polish film / a Polish film / Polish films, depending on context.

What is the difference between lubić, kochać, and podobać się?

They all relate to liking/loving, but they are used differently:

• lubić – to like, to enjoy

  • Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film. – This girl likes Polish film.
  • Lubię tę aktorkę. – I like this actress.

• kochać – to love (stronger emotion, often romantic or very deep affection)

  • Ona kocha tego chłopaka. – She loves this boy.
  • Kocham swoje dzieci. – I love my children.

• podobać się – literally to be pleasing to someone, often about appearance / impression

  • Podoba mi się ten film. – I like this film / I find this film appealing.
    (literally: This film pleases me)

For general preferences (liking films, food, hobbies, people in a neutral way), lubić is the standard choice, as in Ta dziewczyna lubi polski film.