Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona, ale sałatka jest łagodna i dobra.

This soup is too salty for me, but the salad is mild and good.

Breakdown of Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona, ale sałatka jest łagodna i dobra.

• być: to be
• i: and
• ale: but
• dobry: good
• ta: this
• dla: for
• zupa: the soup
• za: too
• sałatka: the salad
• mnie: me
• słony: salty
• łagodny: mild

Questions & Answers about Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona, ale sałatka jest łagodna i dobra.

Why is it ta zupa and not ten zupa?

In Polish, demonstratives (ten / ta / to) agree with the grammatical gender of the noun.

• ten – masculine (e.g. ten kot – this cat)
• ta – feminine (e.g. ta zupa – this soup)
• to – neuter (e.g. to dziecko – this child)

Zupa is grammatically feminine, so it must take ta, not ten.

How do I know that zupa and sałatka are feminine?

In Polish, many (not all) feminine nouns in the basic form (nominative singular) end in -a.

• zupa – ends in -a → feminine
• sałatka – ends in -a → feminine

You also see the gender in the words that modify them:

• ta zupa – ta is feminine
• sałatka jest łagodna i dobra – łagodna, dobra are feminine forms of the adjectives.

A good habit is to learn every new noun together with its gender: zupa (f), sałatka (f).

Could I just say Zupa jest za słona without ta? What changes?

Yes, you can say Zupa jest za słona.

• Ta zupa jest za słona – more specific, like “this soup is too salty” (the one here, the one we’re talking about).
• Zupa jest za słona – more general, “the soup is too salty” (maybe talking about the soup being served, or soup in general in this place).

Both are correct; ta just makes it clearly “this particular soup”.

Why do we say dla mnie and not just ja or something else?

Dla (“for”) requires the genitive case, and the genitive of ja (“I”) is mnie.

• ja – nominative (subject form)
• mnie – genitive (and also some other cases)
• dla + genitive → dla mnie

So:

• Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona = “This soup is too salty for me / to my taste.”

You cannot say dla ja or dla mi; only dla mnie is correct.

What exactly does dla mnie add to the sentence? Is it needed?

You can drop it:

• Ta zupa jest za słona. – “This soup is too salty.”

Adding dla mnie adds the nuance “for me, in my opinion, to my taste”:

• Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona. – “For me, this soup is too salty.”

It softens the statement and makes it sound more subjective and polite, rather than an absolute judgment.

How does za work in za słona? Is za always “too”?

In this pattern za + adjective means “too + adjective”:

• za słona – too salty
• za gorąca – too hot
• za drogi – too expensive

Here za does not mean “for” (that is a different za in other constructions). In this sentence, za is part of the phrase meaning “excessively / too”.

Why is it za słona and not za słony?

Adjectives in Polish agree with the gender of the noun they describe.

• zupa – feminine
• adjective feminine form – słona
• with za: za słona

If the noun were masculine, you’d say:

• ten rosół jest za słony – “this broth is too salty.”

So:

• feminine: za słona
• masculine: za słony
• neuter: za słone

Why is jest repeated: Ta zupa jest… ale sałatka jest…? Could I skip the second jest?

Standard, clear Polish repeats jest:

• Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona, ale sałatka jest łagodna i dobra.

In informal speech people sometimes drop the second jest:

• Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona, ale sałatka łagodna i dobra.

That’s understandable, but:

• In writing and in careful speech, repeating jest is preferred and feels more natural and precise.
• For learners, it’s safer to keep the second jest.

What does łagodna really mean here? Is it just “not salty”?

Łagodna (feminine form of łagodny) literally means “mild, gentle.” For food, it usually means:

• not spicy,
• not strongly seasoned,
• gentle in taste.

It doesn’t only refer to salt; it means the flavor is generally soft and not intense.

So:

• ostry sos – spicy/hot sauce
• łagodny sos – mild sauce

In this sentence, sałatka jest łagodna: the salad has a mild taste, in contrast to the soup being too salty.

Why are both adjectives łagodna and dobra in the same form?

Both describe sałatka, which is feminine singular in the nominative case. Adjectives after jest must agree with the subject:

• sałatka – feminine singular
• łagodna, dobra – feminine singular forms

If the noun changed gender, both adjectives would change:

• ten sos jest łagodny i dobry (masculine)
• to danie jest łagodne i dobre (neuter)

So their matching endings show they all refer to sałatka.

What is the difference between sałatka and sałata?

They’re related but not the same:

• sałata – the vegetable “lettuce” (also sometimes a simple salad made mainly of lettuce).
• sałatka – a prepared salad (can be made of many ingredients: vegetables, fruits, eggs, mayonnaise, etc.).

In most contexts, when you say sałatka, people think of a prepared dish, not just plain lettuce.

Why is there a comma before ale in Polish?

In Polish, you always put a comma before the conjunction ale (“but”) when it connects two clauses or phrases:

• …, ale …

So:

• Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona, ale sałatka jest łagodna i dobra.

Even if the second part is short, the comma is still required. This is a fixed rule, much stricter than English comma usage.

Can I change the word order to Ta zupa jest za słona dla mnie? Does it sound natural?

Yes, that is also natural:

• Ta zupa jest dla mnie za słona.
• Ta zupa jest za słona dla mnie.

Both are correct and common. The difference is very slight:

• dla mnie earlier: lightly emphasizes “for me / to my taste.”
• dla mnie at the end: the emphasis falls more naturally on “too salty.”

In everyday speech, you’ll hear both orders.

Why is it sałatka jest łagodna i dobra, not sałatka jest łagodna i dobry?

Again, agreement with sałatka:

• sałatka – feminine
• adjectives must be feminine: łagodna, dobra

Dobry is the masculine form. Using dobry with a feminine noun would be ungrammatical, like saying “she is good boy” in English.

How do you pronounce the difficult sounds in this sentence, like ł, ą, and ó?

Key sounds:

• ł – like English w in “water”:
  • łagodna ≈ “wagodna”
• ą – nasal vowel, similar to French on in bon:
  • słona has o, not ą, but you see ą in many similar words (e.g. są, idą).
• ó – pronounced like u in “rule”:
  • słona has o, but zupa has u; ó and u usually sound the same in modern Polish.

Stress is almost always on the second-to-last syllable:

• TA zu-pa jest DLA mnie za SŁO-na, a-le sa-ŁAT-ka jest ŁA-god-na i DO-bra.