Na zewnątrz jest gorąco.

It is hot outside.

Breakdown of Na zewnątrz jest gorąco.

• być: to be
• na zewnątrz: outside
• gorąco: hot

Questions & Answers about Na zewnątrz jest gorąco.

Why is there no word for it in this sentence?

English needs a dummy subject it in sentences like It’s hot outside.

Polish doesn’t. When you say Jest gorąco, the verb jest already carries the idea of there is / it is, and the language simply doesn’t use an extra pronoun. So:

• Na zewnątrz jest gorąco = It’s hot outside
• Literally: Outside is hot (but in Polish this is perfectly natural).

There is no missing word for it; Polish just doesn’t express that idea with a pronoun here.

What part of speech is gorąco here – adjective or adverb?

In Na zewnątrz jest gorąco, gorąco functions like an adverb or an impersonal predicate. It answers the question “how is it?” in a general, impersonal way: it is hot (in general).

Compare:

• Jest gorąco – It is hot (in general, as a state of the weather/air).
• Gorące powietrze – hot air (gorące here is a regular adjective agreeing with powietrze, a noun).

So gorąco here is not agreeing with any noun; it’s just describing the general condition.

Why is it gorąco and not gorące?

Gorące is the normal neuter singular adjective form (used before nouns), for example:

• gorące powietrze – hot air
• gorące jedzenie – hot food

But when Polish describes general conditions or sensations without a specific noun, it often uses the -o form:

• Jest gorąco – It is hot.
• Jest zimno – It is cold.
• Jest cicho – It is quiet.
• Jest wesoło – It is cheerful / lively.

These are impersonal predicate forms, not agreeing with any noun, so gorąco, not gorące.

Can I leave out jest and just say Na zewnątrz gorąco?

In standard, careful Polish you normally keep jest:

• Na zewnątrz jest gorąco.

In very casual, spoken Polish, people might drop jest in some contexts, especially with short sentences and clear context (Gorąco dzisiaj!). But Na zewnątrz gorąco sounds more like a fragment or a headline than a full normal sentence.

For a learner, it’s safer and more natural to keep jest here.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Jest gorąco na zewnątrz?

Yes, you can say:

• Na zewnątrz jest gorąco.
• Jest gorąco na zewnątrz.

Both mean It’s hot outside and are natural.

Subtlety of emphasis:

• Na zewnątrz jest gorąco. – Slightly more emphasis on the location (Outside, it’s hot).
• Jest gorąco na zewnątrz. – Slightly more emphasis on the fact that it’s hot (It is hot – outside).

In everyday speech, both are fine and commonly used. As a learner, you can treat them as interchangeable.

What exactly does na zewnątrz mean, literally?

Literally, na zewnątrz is something like on the outside / in the outside. Functionally, it just means outside (as opposed to inside a building, a room, a car, etc.).

Examples:

• Czekam na zewnątrz. – I’m waiting outside.
• Na zewnątrz jest zimno. – It’s cold outside.

Why is it na zewnątrz and not something like na zewnątrzu?

Historically, zewnątrz was related to a noun and had case forms, but in modern Polish, zewnątrz is used almost exclusively as an adverb (like outside in English), and it does not change its form.

So:

• na zewnątrz – fixed phrase, with zewnątrz acting as an adverb.

You might occasionally see na zewnątrzu in older or very formal/literary texts, but in contemporary everyday Polish, na zewnątrz is the normal form.

What’s the difference between na zewnątrz, na dworze, and na polu?

All three can refer to being outside, but there are differences in usage and geography:

• na zewnątrz – neutral, standard, works everywhere. Closest to English outside in a general sense.
• na dworze – very common in much of Poland for outside (especially in cities and many regions).
• na polu – in some regions (especially in southern and eastern Poland), people use this to mean outside as well, though literally it means in the field.

For you as a learner, na zewnątrz is a safe, standard choice, understood all over the country.

Can I use this structure for other weather or temperature expressions?

Yes. You can keep Na zewnątrz jest … and change the word for the condition:

• Na zewnątrz jest zimno. – It’s cold outside.
• Na zewnątrz jest ciepło. – It’s warm outside.
• Na zewnątrz jest chłodno. – It’s cool / chilly outside.
• Na zewnątrz jest pochmurno. – It’s cloudy outside.
• Na zewnątrz jest przyjemnie. – It’s pleasant outside.

What is the pronunciation of zewnątrz? It looks tricky.

Pronunciation tips:

• ze – like zeh
• w – like English v
• ną – nasal sound, similar to French “on” in bon (but shorter)
• trz – pronounced roughly like “tsh” (a t plus the sh in ship)

Put together roughly: zev-non-tsh (said smoothly, with the nasal vowel). Listening to natives say na zewnątrz a few times will help a lot.

Is Na zewnątrz jest gorąco a complete sentence by itself?

Yes. It has:

• An implied subject (no pronoun needed in Polish).
• A verb: jest.
• A predicate: gorąco.
• An adverbial phrase of place: na zewnątrz.

So it is a fully complete and natural sentence meaning It’s hot outside.

How would I turn this into a question in Polish?

Polish doesn’t need auxiliary verbs like do/does/is to form simple yes–no questions. You mainly change intonation (and optionally add czy at the beginning).

From Na zewnątrz jest gorąco. you can get:

• Na zewnątrz jest gorąco? – Is it hot outside? (just rising intonation)
• Czy na zewnątrz jest gorąco? – Is it hot outside? (more explicit, slightly more formal/clear)

Word order stays the same; intonation (and/or czy) signals the question.