Learn Hardcore Polish: Przy ognisku jest cieplej niż w namiocie. - By the campfire it is warmer than in the tent.

In this sentence, przy means “(right) by / at” the fire, with a sense of being very close and often benefiting from it (here: feeling its warmth).

Rough differences:

przy ognisku – by/at the fire, very close, almost in contact, often with some functional relation (you sit przy ognisku to warm up).
obok ogniska – next to the fire; close, but more neutral about function.
koło ogniska – around/by the fire; also “near”, sometimes a bit looser than przy.

For warmth, przy ognisku is the most natural, because you’re right there by the fire, feeling its heat.

Why is it w namiocie and not w namiot?

The preposition w (“in”) normally takes the locative case when talking about a static location (“in the tent”, not “into the tent”).

namiot is a masculine noun.
The locative singular of many masculine nouns ends in -e.

So:

Nominative: namiot – “(the) tent”
Locative: namiocie – “in the tent”

Hence: w namiocie, not w namiot.

(If you were talking about motion into the tent, you’d use do namiotu – genitive – not w namiocie.)

What’s the grammatical role of jest here? Where is the subject?

Polish often uses an impersonal construction with jest (“is”) for statements about conditions, temperatures, etc.

jest cieplej literally: “it-is warmer”
There is no explicit subject like English “it”.
Grammatically, you can treat cieplej as a predicative adverb describing the general state or situation.

So the whole sentence is:

Przy ognisku jest cieplej niż w namiocie.
Literally: “By the fire is warmer than in the tent.”
Natural English: “It’s warmer by the fire than in the tent.”

The “it” in English doesn’t correspond to any word in Polish.

What is cieplej exactly – adjective or adverb? Why not cieplejszy?

Cieplej is the comparative form of the adverb ciepło (“warmly / warm” in an adverbial sense).

Compare:

ciepły – warm (adjective)
- cieplejszy – warmer (adjective)
ciepło – warmly, warm(ly) (adverb / predicative)
- cieplej – more warmly / warmer (adverb)

You use:

cieplejszy when it directly describes a noun:
- cieplejszy sweter – a warmer sweater
cieplej when it describes how it is in a place or situation:
- Tutaj jest cieplej. – It’s warmer here.
- Przy ognisku jest cieplej. – It’s warmer by the fire.

In this sentence we’re not saying “a warmer something”; we’re saying “it is warmer (there)”, so the adverb cieplej is correct.

Could I say jest bardziej ciepło instead of jest cieplej?

People would understand jest bardziej ciepło, but it sounds unnatural and clumsy in standard Polish.

For most common adjectives/adverbs, Polish prefers built‑in comparatives, not bardziej + base form:

natural: ciepło → cieplej
unnatural: bardziej ciepło

Use:

Jest cieplej. – It’s warmer. ✅ Not:
Jest bardziej ciepło. – Sounds foreign / learner‑like. ❌

Why is the comparison introduced with niż and not od? Are both possible?

Both niż and od are used in comparisons, but they don’t behave the same way.

niż introduces a clause or phrase:
- Jest cieplej niż w namiocie.
- “It’s warmer than (it is) in the tent.”
od introduces a noun (or pronoun), in the genitive:
- Jest cieplej od wczoraj. – It’s warmer than yesterday.
- On jest wyższy od mnie. – He is taller than me.

In this sentence:

We’re comparing two places expressed with prepositions: przy ognisku vs w namiocie.
niż works naturally between these two phrases:
Przy ognisku jest cieplej niż w namiocie.

You would not say cieplej od w namiotu here; that would be incorrect.

Can I change the word order? For example: Jest cieplej przy ognisku niż w namiocie?

Yes. Polish word order is flexible. These are all grammatical and natural, with slightly different emphasis:

Przy ognisku jest cieplej niż w namiocie.
Neutral; starts by setting the place “by the fire”.
Jest cieplej przy ognisku niż w namiocie.
Starts with the statement “it is warmer”, then specifies where.
Cieplej jest przy ognisku niż w namiocie.
Emphasizes “warmer” at the beginning, often used in speech for contrast.

All keep the same basic meaning: “It’s warmer by the fire than in the tent.”

What are the genders of ognisko and namiot, and do they affect this sentence?

ognisko – neuter noun
namiot – masculine noun

In this particular sentence, their gender does not visibly affect any other word, because:

We’re not using any adjectives that would have to agree in gender.
We’re only seeing each noun in the locative singular:
- ognisko → ognisku
- namiot → namiocie

Gender would matter if you modified them with adjectives:

ciepłe ognisko (neuter) – warm fire
ciepły namiot (masculine) – warm tent

But in Przy ognisku jest cieplej niż w namiocie, gender only affects the declension endings (-u, -cie).

Is there any nuance difference between “by the fire” and “in the tent” in Polish here, or is it just literal?

It’s fairly literal, but there is a bit of naturalness in the choice of prepositions:

przy ognisku – literally “by/at the fire”; suggests you’re sitting around the campfire, very close to the flames.
w namiocie – “in the tent”; inside the enclosed space.

So the sentence contrasts:

being right next to the source of heat (the fire),
with being enclosed in the tent.

That matches how a native speaker would naturally phrase this comparison in Polish.