Questions & Answers about Ostry wiatr sprawia, że jest mi zimno.
What exactly does ostry mean in this sentence? Is it “sharp,” “strong,” or “cold”?
Ostry literally means “sharp,” but when used with wiatr (wind), it usually describes wind that feels biting, harsh, cutting, often because it’s both strong and cold.
In this context, natural English translations could be:
- “The biting wind…”
- “The harsh wind…”
- “The strong, cold wind…”
Other related adjectives for wind:
- silny wiatr – strong wind (focus on strength)
- mroźny wiatr – frosty wind (focus on temperature)
Ostry wiatr emphasizes how sharply the wind is felt on your skin.
Why is it ostry wiatr and not some other form like ostra wiatr or ostre wiatr?
Ostry agrees in gender, number, and case with wiatr:
- wiatr is masculine, singular, nominative (subject of the sentence)
- So the adjective must also be: masculine, singular, nominative → ostry
Other forms of ostry for comparison:
- ostry nóż – sharp knife (masc. sing.)
- ostra kawa – strong/sharp coffee (fem. sing.)
- ostre noże – sharp knives (plural)
Because wiatr is masculine singular in the nominative, ostry wiatr is the correct form.