Nie pamiętam, ile lat ma nowa sąsiadka, ale wiem, że jest młodsza od mojej cioci.

Polish expresses age with the verb mieć (to have), not to be.

So:

• Ile lat ma? = How old is he/she?
  literally: How many years does he/she have?
• Mam 20 lat. = I am 20 years old.
  literally: I have 20 years.

This is one of the most important differences between English and Polish. In Polish, saying age with być (to be) would sound wrong.

Polish word order is more flexible than English word order, because grammatical endings carry a lot of information.

In an indirect question like this, ile lat ma nowa sąsiadka is a very natural order:

• ile lat = how many years / how old
• ma = has
• nowa sąsiadka = the new neighbor

Literally: how many years has the new neighbor

You may also hear other orders, such as ile lat nowa sąsiadka ma, but ile lat ma nowa sąsiadka is the most neutral and common here.

So the key point is:

• English relies heavily on word order.
• Polish allows more movement, especially for emphasis or style.

Both words are feminine singular nominative, and they agree with each other.

• nowa = new
• sąsiadka = female neighbor

Polish adjectives must match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since sąsiadka is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

That is why you get nowa sąsiadka.

Compare:

• nowy sąsiad = new male neighbor
• nowa sąsiadka = new female neighbor
• nowi sąsiedzi = new neighbors

Because the sentence is talking about the neighbor, and sąsiadka is feminine.

The adjective młody means young.
The comparative form is młodszy / younger.

But in Polish, adjectives change to match the noun they describe:

• młodszy = masculine
• młodsza = feminine
• młodsze = neuter

Since jest młodsza refers to nowa sąsiadka, the feminine form is required.

So:

• On jest młodszy. = He is younger.
• Ona jest młodsza. = She is younger.

After a comparative like młodsza (younger), Polish often uses od to mean than.

So:

• młodsza od mojej cioci = younger than my aunt

This is a very common structure:

• starszy od brata = older than his brother
• wyższa od mnie = taller than me
• lepszy od tamtego = better than that one

So here:

• młodsza = younger
• od = than
• mojej cioci = my aunt

It is in the genitive case.

The preposition od normally requires the genitive, so moja ciocia changes form:

• nominative: moja ciocia = my aunt
• genitive: mojej cioci = of my aunt / than my aunt

Both words change:

• moja → mojej
• ciocia → cioci

So in od mojej cioci, both the possessive adjective and the noun are in the genitive.

This is normal in Polish: modifiers must agree with the noun in case as well.

Both mean aunt, but they differ in tone.

• ciocia is warmer, more everyday, and often more affectionate
• ciotka is more neutral or sometimes a bit less affectionate, depending on context

In many family contexts, Polish speakers naturally use ciocia.

So moja ciocia sounds very normal and natural for my aunt.

Because pamiętać means to remember, while wiedzieć means to know.

• Nie pamiętam, ile lat ma... = I don’t remember how old...
• Nie wiem, ile lat ma... = I don’t know how old...

In English, these can sometimes feel close, but in Polish the distinction is real:

• nie wiem suggests you do not know the information
• nie pamiętam suggests you may have known it, but cannot recall it now

So this sentence implies: I probably learned her age before, but I can’t remember it.

Że means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• wiem = I know
• że jest młodsza od mojej cioci = that she is younger than my aunt

Together:

• ale wiem, że jest młodsza od mojej cioci
  = but I know that she is younger than my aunt

In Polish, że is very commonly used where English may use that, even in places where English sometimes omits it.

Compare:

• Wiem, że on przyjdzie. = I know that he will come.
• Myślę, że masz rację. = I think that you are right.

Because Polish often drops subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from the verb form or context.

In this sentence, it is obvious that jest młodsza refers to nowa sąsiadka, so ona is unnecessary.

Polish commonly does this:

• Jest zmęczona. = She is tired.
• Wiem, że mieszka tutaj. = I know that she lives here.

If you said że ona jest młodsza, that would still be grammatical, but it would add emphasis or contrast.

So:

• że jest młodsza = neutral, natural
• że ona jest młodsza = more emphatic

The commas separate clauses, and Polish punctuation is often stricter than English punctuation in these structures.

Sentence:

• Nie pamiętam, ile lat ma nowa sąsiadka, ale wiem, że jest młodsza od mojej cioci.

There are commas because:

1. ile lat ma nowa sąsiadka is an embedded question after nie pamiętam
2. ale means but, and clauses joined by ale are separated by a comma
3. że jest młodsza... is a subordinate clause introduced by że

So the commas are not optional here; they are part of standard Polish punctuation.

Normally, no. The natural comparative of młody is młodszy / młodsza.

So:

• młoda = young
• młodsza = younger

Using bardziej młoda would sound unnatural in standard Polish. With most common adjectives, Polish prefers the normal comparative form rather than bardziej + adjective.

Compare:

• ładna → ładniejsza = prettier
• szybki → szybszy = faster
• młoda → młodsza = younger

Bardziej is used more often when there is no simple comparative form, or in certain stylistic contexts, but not here.

You would need to change the words that show gender.

Original:

• Nie pamiętam, ile lat ma nowa sąsiadka, ale wiem, że jest młodsza od mojej cioci.

Male version:

• Nie pamiętam, ile lat ma nowy sąsiad, ale wiem, że jest młodszy od mojej cioci.

Changes:

• nowa sąsiadka → nowy sąsiad
• młodsza → młodszy

This shows how adjectives in Polish must agree with the noun they describe.