Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.

This blanket is thinner than that one.

Breakdown of Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.

• być: to be
• ten: this
• niż: than
• tamten: that
• koc: the blanket
• cieńszy: thinner

Questions & Answers about Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.

What is the exact difference between ten and tamten?

Both are demonstratives (like this/that), but:

• ten = this (near the speaker)
• tamten = that (over there) / that one (further away)

In the sentence Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten, it’s literally:

• Ten koc – this blanket
• tamten – that one (blanket)

So the sentence means: This blanket is thinner than that one.

Why is it ten koc and not ta koc or to koc?

Because koc (blanket) is grammatically masculine in Polish.

• ten – used with masculine nouns (e.g. ten koc, ten kot)
• ta – used with feminine nouns (e.g. ta książka)
• to – used with neuter nouns (e.g. to okno)

So, for koc, the correct form in the nominative singular is ten koc.
Ta koc or to koc would be ungrammatical.

What gender is koc, and does it matter for the whole sentence?

Koc is masculine inanimate.

This matters because:

1. The demonstrative must match the noun’s gender:
   ten (masc.) + koc (masc.) → ten koc
2. The adjective in basic (non‑comparative) form would also match:
   ten cienki koc – this thin blanket (masc. endings)
3. In the comparative (cieńszy), the form cieńszy is the masculine comparative form.
   Feminine would be cieńsza, neuter cieńsze.

So gender agreement affects ten and the form of the adjective.

How is cieńszy formed from cienki? Why not something like cienkieszy?

Base adjective: cienki = thin

Comparative in Polish is normally:

• stem + -szy / -ejszy

For cienki, there is a regular but slightly irregular-looking change:

• cienk‑ (stem) → cieńsz‑ (comparative stem)
• add ‑y (masc. ending)

So:

• cienki → cieńszy (masc.)
• cienka → cieńsza (fem.)
• cienkie → cieńsze (neut./plural)

The n + k cluster becomes ńsz in the comparative. It’s a common pattern in Polish, not random.

You would not say bardziej cienki in normal usage. Cieńszy is the natural comparative form of cienki.

What does niż mean, and can I replace it with something else?

Niż corresponds to than in English comparatives:

• cieńszy niż tamten – thinner than that one

In many comparative sentences, you can also use od (literally from), but there are differences:

1. niż

   • full noun phrase or pronoun in the same case:
   • Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten (koc).

2. od

   • noun/pronoun in the genitive:
   • Ten koc jest cieńszy od tamtego (koca).

Both are correct here:

• Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.
• Ten koc jest cieńszy od tamtego.

In this particular sentence, niż sounds very natural because we are directly comparing this one vs that one as subjects/complete noun phrases.

What case is used after niż in this sentence?

After niż, the compared element normally stays in the same case as it would have without comparison.

Here:

• Without comparison: Tamten (koc) jest cienki. → tamten is nominative.
• With comparison: Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.

So tamten is also nominative.

If you used od instead:

• Ten koc jest cieńszy od tamtego (koca).

Then tamtego (koca) is in the genitive because od requires the genitive.

Can I omit jest and just say Ten koc cieńszy niż tamten?

In standard Polish, you should not omit jest here.

The correct, natural sentence is:

• Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.

Polish does not usually drop the verb być (to be) in the present tense the way Russian or some other Slavic languages do. In everyday speech, people sometimes shorten sentences, but in a normal, correct sentence like this, jest is required.

How flexible is the word order? Can I move cieńszy or niż tamten around?

Polish word order is relatively flexible, but there are natural patterns.

Most natural here:

• Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.

Other orders:

• Ten koc jest niż tamten cieńszy. – Grammatically possible but sounds odd/marked.
• Cieńszy niż tamten jest ten koc. – Possible, but very stylized/emphatic.

You generally want:

1. Subject: Ten koc
2. Verb: jest
3. Comparative adjective: cieńszy
4. Comparator phrase: niż tamten

So stick to Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten in normal speech.

Why does tamten stand alone without a noun? Is that always allowed?

Yes. Tamten can work as:

• a determiner: tamten koc – that blanket
• a pronoun: tamten – that one

In this sentence, tamten is understood as tamten koc (that blanket), but the noun is omitted because it’s clear from context.

This is very common in Polish when the noun has already been mentioned or is obvious:

• Który koc wolisz? – Tamten.
  (Which blanket do you prefer? – That one.)

How do I pronounce Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten?

Approximate pronunciation (English-style):

• Ten – like ten
• koc – like kots (short, hard ts at the end)
• jest – like yest (short e, not yea)
• cieńszy – roughly CHEN-shih
  
  • cie → che (soft ch, like in chew but shorter)
  • ń – soft ny sound (like ni in onion)
  • sz – like English sh
  • final y – similar to short i in bit, but more central
• niż – like neezh (like knee
  • zh in measure)
• tamten – TAM-ten (both vowels like in ten, man but shorter)

Full phrase, roughly: ten kots yest CHEN-shih neezh TAM-ten

Why doesn’t Polish use any article like a/the with koc?

Polish simply has no articles (no a/an/the).

Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context instead of separate words:

• Ten koc jest cieńszy niż tamten.
  Depending on context could be translated:
  • This blanket is thinner than that one.
  • The blanket here is thinner than that one.

You don’t need to add anything like a/the in Polish; the demonstratives (ten, tamten) already give enough specificity.

Is cieńszy only for physical thickness, or can it mean “weaker”, “less dense”, etc. like English thin?

Cieńszy is primarily about physical thickness:

• cieńszy koc – a thinner blanket
• cieńsza książka – a thinner book (physically less thick)

It can extend to some metaphorical uses (like cieńsza warstwa farby – a thinner layer of paint), but if you mean:

• weak – you usually use słaby / słabszy
• diluted (thin soup/drink) – rzadki / rzadszy or słaby / słabszy
• sparse / not dense – rzadki / rzadszy

So for blankets and physical thickness, cieńszy is exactly right.