Learn Hardcore Polish: To jest mój wymarzony dom.

Polish to does not distinguish as strictly between “this” (near) and “that” (far) as English does. Context, pointing, or additional words (like tam = “there”) show distance if needed:

Tam to jest mój wymarzony dom. – “That over there is my dream house.”

Why do we say to jest and not ten jest?

To jest… is the normal, basic way to say “This is…” or “That is…” followed by a noun:

To jest dom. – This/That is a house.

Ten is a demonstrative adjective that goes directly with a noun:

Ten dom jest duży. – “This/That house is big.”

So:

To jest mój wymarzony dom. – “This is my dream house.”
Ten dom jest wymarzony. – “This house is a dream (house).”

You wouldn’t say *Ten jest mój wymarzony dom; instead you either use To jest… or you say Ten dom jest moim wymarzonym domem (see the case explanation below).

Why is it mój and not moja or moje?

The form of “my” has to agree with the gender (and number, case) of the noun:

mój – masculine singular
moja – feminine singular
moje – neuter singular (and not‑masculine plural)

The word dom (“house, home”) is masculine, so you use mój:

mój dom – my house
moja książka – my book (feminine)
moje dziecko – my child (neuter)

In To jest mój wymarzony dom, both mój and wymarzony are in the masculine singular form, agreeing with dom.

What case is used for dom here? Why isn’t it domem or domu?

Here dom is in the nominative case, because with the pattern:

To jest + noun

the noun is normally in nominative:

To jest dom. – This is a house.
To jest mój wymarzony dom. – This is my dream house.

Compare this with sentences where the subject is a person or personal pronoun; then Polish tends to use the instrumental case with być (“to be”):

On jest moim ojcem. – He is my father. (instrumental: ojcem)
Jan jest lekarzem. – Jan is a doctor. (instrumental: lekarzem)

But:

To jest mój ojciec. – This is my father. (nominative: ojciec)

So: To jest + nominative, but [someone] jest + instrumental is very common.

What does wymarzony literally mean, and what word is it related to?

Wymarzony comes from the verb wymarzyć (sobie) – “to dream up / to dream of (for oneself)” and from marzyć – “to dream, to daydream”.

Literally, wymarzony is a past participle and means something like:

“dreamed (of)”, “dreamed‑up”

In actual usage it works as an adjective meaning “dream, ideal, perfect (as one has always wanted)”:

wymarzony dom – dream house
wymarzona praca – dream job
wymarzone wakacje – dream vacation

So mój wymarzony dom = “the house I have always dreamed of.”

Why is wymarzony placed before dom? Can I say dom wymarzony?

The default word order for adjectives in Polish is adjective + noun:

wymarzony dom – dream house
nowy dom – new house
duży dom – big house

So wymarzony dom is the normal, neutral order.

You can say dom wymarzony, but:

it sounds more poetic, expressive, or emphatic, not neutral everyday speech
it can give a feeling of “a house that is [indeed] dream‑like / that turned out to be a dream”

For a standard sentence like To jest mój wymarzony dom, putting the adjective before the noun is what you should learn as the regular pattern.

Can I drop jest and just say To mój wymarzony dom?

Yes. In everyday spoken Polish, it’s very common to omit jest:

To mój wymarzony dom. – “(This is) my dream house.”

Both:

To jest mój wymarzony dom.
To mój wymarzony dom.

are correct. The version with jest is slightly more explicit and textbook‑like; without jest is very natural in speech and in many written contexts.

Does dom mean “house” or “home”? How do I distinguish them?

Polish dom can mean both:

House – the physical building
Home – the place you live or feel at home

Context usually shows which meaning is intended:

To jest mój dom. – This is my house / This is my home.
Wracam do domu. – I’m going home. (definitely “home”, not “to the house” in the abstract)

If you want to emphasize the building itself, you can say:

budynek mieszkalny – residential building (formal)
dom jako budynek – house as a building

If you want to emphasize the “home” feeling:

dom rodzinny – family home
czuję się tu jak w domu – I feel at home here.

In To jest mój wymarzony dom, both “dream house” and “dream home” are possible translations depending on context.

How would this sentence change if I were talking about more than one dream house?

You need to put everything into the plural and keep agreement:

To są moje wymarzone domy. – “These/Those are my dream houses.”

Changes:

jest → są (3rd person singular → 3rd person plural)
mój → moje (masculine singular → non‑masculine plural form)
wymarzony → wymarzone (plural adjective form)
dom → domy (plural of dom)

So singular vs plural:

To jest mój wymarzony dom. – This is my dream house.
To są moje wymarzone domy. – These are my dream houses.

If I want to say “That is my dream house” (far away), can I still use to?

Yes. To on its own can cover both “this” and “that” in Polish. Native speakers rely on context, pointing, or extra words to show distance.

If you want to be very clear that it’s far away, you can add tam (“there”):

Tamto jest mój wymarzony dom. – That (over there) is my dream house.
Tam jest mój wymarzony dom. – My dream house is there.

But in many situations, simply:

To jest mój wymarzony dom.

can translate as either “This is my dream house” or “That is my dream house.”

How is wymarzony pronounced, especially the rz?

wymarzony is pronounced roughly:

[vɨ-mar-ˈʐɔ-nɨ]
broken down: wy-mar-ZO-ny, with the stress on -zo-

Tips:

rz is pronounced like the “zh” sound in English “vision” or “measure” (same sound as Polish ż for most speakers).
wy-: the y is like the Polish y sound, somewhat like the vowel in English “roses” or the second sound in “pretty”, but more central and tense.
The stress is always on the second‑to‑last syllable in standard Polish: wy‑ma‑RZO‑ny.

Could I say To jest mój dom marzeń instead of wymarzony dom? Is there a difference?

You can say mój dom marzeń, and it is understandable and used, but there is a nuance:

mój wymarzony dom – “my dream house” (very common, smooth, default)
mój dom marzeń – literally “my house of dreams”

Dom marzeń is a bit more literary / expressive, and often used in slogans, ads, or emotional contexts. Grammatically both are fine, but:

For everyday speech and the most natural expression, mój wymarzony dom is usually better.