Learn Hardcore Polish: Ten wyjazd był drogi.

ten = this / that as a determiner in front of a masculine noun
- ten wyjazd = this/that trip (a specific trip)
to = this/that/it as a standalone pronoun, not directly in front of the noun
- To był drogi wyjazd. = It was an expensive trip.

You normally do not say *to wyjazd był drogi. Either:

Ten wyjazd był drogi. – This trip was expensive.
or
To był drogi wyjazd. – It was an expensive trip.

Do I really need ten? Can I just say Wyjazd był drogi?

You can absolutely say Wyjazd był drogi.

The difference is subtle and mostly about how specific you sound:

Wyjazd był drogi.
= The trip was expensive / Going away was expensive.
This is more general; context or earlier conversation has to make it clear which trip.
Ten wyjazd był drogi.
= This (particular) trip was expensive.
You’re clearly pointing to one specific trip, often the one you just mentioned or are strongly focusing on.

So ten works a bit like adding emphasis similar to this/that instead of just the in English.

What exactly does wyjazd mean, and how is it different from podróż or wycieczka?

All three can be translated as trip/journey, but they’re used differently:

wyjazd
- Literally: an act of going away / leaving (usually for some time).
- Common for trips related to work, school, holidays:
  - wyjazd służbowy – business trip
  - wyjazd na wakacje – holiday trip
- Fairly neutral and very common.
podróż
- More like journey/travel as a process.
- Often a bit more formal or “literary”, though it’s also used in everyday speech:
  - podróż pociągiem – journey by train
  - podróż dookoła świata – journey around the world
wycieczka
- More like excursion, outing, often shorter or more leisure/organized:
  - wycieczka szkolna – school trip
  - wycieczka w góry – a (leisure) trip to the mountains

In Ten wyjazd był drogi, wyjazd suggests a trip away from home (holidays, business, etc.), not just any abstract journey.

What gender is wyjazd, and how does that affect był drogi?

Wyjazd is masculine singular.

In Polish, verbs in the past tense and adjectives must agree with the subject’s gender and number.

Subject: wyjazd (masculine singular)
Past tense of być (to be) for masc. sg.: był
Adjective drogi in masc. sg. nominative: drogi

So you get:

Ten wyjazd był drogi.

Compare with other genders:

Ta wycieczka była droga. – This (fem.) trip was expensive.
To spotkanie było drogie. – This (neut.) meeting was expensive.

Why is it drogi and not droga here?

Because drogi / droga / drogie is an adjective that changes its ending to agree with the gender of the noun it modifies.

For expensive in nominative singular:

masculine: drogi – drogi wyjazd (masc.)
feminine: droga – droga wycieczka (fem.)
neuter: drogie – drogie auto (neut., expensive car)

Since wyjazd is masculine, you need drogi.

Note: droga is also a separate noun meaning road / way. Context and sentence structure tell you whether droga is:

an adjective (feminine expensive), or
a noun (road).

Does drogi always mean “expensive”? I’ve seen it in letters like Drogi Marku.

Drogi has two main meanings, both very common:

expensive, costly
- Ten wyjazd był drogi. – This trip was expensive.
- To jest bardzo droga restauracja. – This is a very expensive restaurant.
dear, beloved (in addressing someone)
- Drogi Marku, – Dear Mark,
- Droga Anno, – Dear Anna,

How to tell the meaning?

If drogi is before a person’s name, especially at the start of a letter/email, it almost always means dear.
If it describes something that can have a price (trip, car, hotel, etc.), it means expensive.

Why is the verb in the past tense był, and not jest?

był = masculine singular past of być (to be) → was
jest = present tense → is

So:

Ten wyjazd był drogi. – This trip was expensive. (a finished trip in the past)
Ten wyjazd jest drogi. – This trip is expensive. (you are talking about a planned / current trip, for example after seeing the price)

You use był when:

you’re talking about a trip that has already happened (you already paid, it is over), or
you’re describing it from a past viewpoint.

You’d use jest if you’re discussing the price while you’re still planning or booking it.

Can I say To był drogi wyjazd instead? What’s the difference from Ten wyjazd był drogi?

Yes, you can say To był drogi wyjazd, and it’s very natural.

Subtle difference:

Ten wyjazd był drogi.
Focus: this particular trip (subject first).
This trip was expensive.
To był drogi wyjazd.
Structure: To (it/this) + był
- drogi wyjazd (expensive trip).
  More like: That was an expensive trip.

Both are common. To był drogi wyjazd can sound slightly more evaluative/comment-like, as if you’re summing up:
No, to był naprawdę drogi wyjazd. – Yeah, that really was an expensive trip.

Can I change the word order, like Wyjazd był drogi or Drogi był ten wyjazd?

Yes, some changes are possible; they usually affect emphasis.

Most neutral options:

Ten wyjazd był drogi.
Wyjazd był drogi.

Both are fine; putting ten first makes the reference clearer/specific.

Other word orders:

Drogi był ten wyjazd.
– Grammatically correct, but quite marked and poetic/literary. Emphasizes drogi (expensive) strongly.
Był drogi ten wyjazd.
– Possible, but sounds unusual or stylized; again, emphasis on był drogi.

In everyday speech, stick to:

Ten wyjazd był drogi.
Wyjazd był drogi.

What case is wyjazd in here, and when would its ending change?

In Ten wyjazd był drogi, wyjazd is in the nominative singular:

It’s the subject of the sentence (the trip).
ten and drogi also agree with it in nominative masculine singular.

Other cases (just to give you a feel):

Genitive (of the trip):
- nie ma tego wyjazdu – there is no such trip
Dative (to/for the trip – rare with this noun, but grammatically):
- przygotowania do wyjazdu – preparations for the trip (here wyjazdu is actually genitive after do)
Accusative (I’m planning the trip):
- planuję wyjazd – I’m planning a trip
Instrumental (with/as a trip):
- z tym wyjazdem – with this trip
Locative (about the trip):
- o tym wyjeździe – about this trip

In our sentence, because wyjazd is simply “the thing that was expensive”, it stays in nominative.

How do you pronounce Ten wyjazd był drogi?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-friendly hints):

Ten – like English ten.
wyjazd – roughly: VIH-yast
- w = v
- y is a bit like the vowel in myth, not like English ee
- j = English y in yes
- a = a in father
- z
  - d at the end: in careful speech -zd, but in normal speech you’ll often hear final devoicing so it sounds close to -st.
był – roughly: biw
- y again like in myth
- ł like English w.
drogi – roughly: DROH-gee
- dr as in draw
- o like in British law (shorter)
- g always hard, like in go
- i like ee in see.

Spoken smoothly, it sounds roughly like:
Ten VIH-yast biw DROH-gee.