Czy tamta książka jest twoja?

Czy turns the sentence into a yes/no question. It does not mean a separate English word by itself here; it simply signals that the speaker is asking something like Is ... ?

So:

• Tamta książka jest twoja. = That book is yours.
• Czy tamta książka jest twoja? = Is that book yours?

Unlike English, Polish does not usually change the word order to make this kind of question. Adding czy is one of the most common ways to do it.

Because książka is a feminine noun, and the demonstrative has to agree with it in gender, number, and case.

Here the noun is:

• książka = book
• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

So the matching form is:

• masculine: tamten
• feminine: tamta
• neuter: tamto

That is why we get tamta książka = that book.

For the same reason: twoja must agree with the thing being talked about, which is książka, a feminine singular noun.

So:

• twój = your, masculine singular
• twoja = your, feminine singular
• twoje = your, neuter singular or some plural uses

Because the sentence is about książka, we use twoja.

Even though English just says yours, Polish still shows gender agreement here.

In Polish, possessive words like twój / twoja / twoje can often stand on their own when the noun is understood.

So:

• Czy tamta książka jest twoja? literally means something like Is that book your one?
• In natural English, we simply say Is that book yours?

This is very normal in Polish. Compare:

• To jest moja książka. = This is my book.
• Ta książka jest moja. = This book is mine.

Jest is the 3rd person singular of być = to be.

In this sentence, it is the normal full form:

• Czy tamta książka jest twoja? = Is that book yours?

In everyday spoken Polish, jest is sometimes omitted in present-tense sentences, especially in casual speech:

• Tamta książka twoja?
• To twoja książka?

But for learners, it is best to understand and use the full version first. The version with jest is clear, correct, and standard.

It is in the nominative case.

That is because książka is the subject of the sentence:

• tamta książka = that book

The words agreeing with it are also nominative:

• tamta — feminine singular nominative
• twoja — feminine singular nominative

So this sentence is a good example of basic agreement in the nominative.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order, although some versions sound more natural in certain contexts.

Examples:

• Czy tamta książka jest twoja? — standard, neutral
• Tamta książka jest twoja? — a question by intonation alone
• Czy twoja jest tamta książka? — grammatically possible, but unusual and marked
• To twoja książka? — very common in everyday speech, but it means Is this/that your book?, with slightly different focus

The original sentence is a straightforward and natural way to ask the question.

Both can be translated as that in English sometimes, but they are not exactly the same.

• ta książka = this book or sometimes that book depending on context
• tamta książka = that book over there / that one

Tamta usually points to something more distant or contrasts it with another item.

For example:

• Ta książka jest ciekawa, ale tamta jest nudna. = This book is interesting, but that one is boring.

So in your sentence, tamta książka suggests a specific book that is not the one nearest the speaker.

This word can look intimidating to English speakers.

A rough guide:

• książka sounds approximately like KSHYONZH-ka, though no English spelling matches it perfectly.

A few key points:

• książ- begins with a consonant cluster; the kś/ksi part is soft
• ą is a nasal vowel
• ż sounds like the s in measure
• final -ka is straightforward

If pronunciation is your focus, it helps to break it up:

• książ-ka

But the most important thing is to hear it from native audio and repeat it, because Polish nasal vowels and soft consonants are hard to learn from spelling alone.

It is neutral.

Nothing in Czy tamta książka jest twoja? is especially formal or especially casual. It would work in many ordinary situations.

The only thing to notice is twoja, which comes from ty and is used when speaking to one person informally.

If you wanted the polite form, you would usually say:

• Czy tamta książka jest pana? — to a man
• Czy tamta książka jest pani? — to a woman
• more naturally: Czy to pana książka? / Czy to pani książka?

So the original sentence is appropriate when speaking informally to someone you address as ty.

Yes. In conversation, Polish speakers often use shorter versions, depending on context:

• To twoja książka? = Is this/that your book?
• Tamta książka jest twoja? = That book is yours?
• Ta książka jest twoja? = Is this book yours?

The full version with czy is completely correct and useful, especially for learners, but in casual speech Polish often relies on intonation instead of always using czy.