Pieczony kurczak jest pyszny.

to be

Breakdown of Pieczony kurczak jest pyszny.

• kurczak: the chicken
• pyszny: delicious
• pieczony: baked

Questions & Answers about Pieczony kurczak jest pyszny.

Why is it pieczony and not pieczona or pieczone?

Because pieczony has to agree with kurczak in gender, number, and case.

• kurczak is masculine singular
• the sentence uses the nominative case, because pieczony kurczak is the subject
• so the adjective/participle must also be masculine singular nominative: pieczony

Compare:

• pieczony kurczak = roasted chicken
• pieczona ryba = roasted fish
• pieczone mięso = roasted meat

What exactly is pieczony here?

Pieczony is a form derived from the verb piec = to bake / to roast. In this sentence, it works like an adjective and means roasted or baked.

So pieczony kurczak literally means roasted chicken.

English learners often think of it as a past participle, and that is a useful way to understand it. In normal Polish usage here, though, it simply behaves like an adjective describing the chicken.

Why is pyszny used instead of pysznie?