Ten solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę.

this

Breakdown of Ten solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę.

• swój: his
• ulubiony: favourite
• śpiewać: to sing

Questions & Answers about Ten solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę.

Why does the sentence start with ten?

Ten means this and agrees with the noun solista.

• ten = masculine singular
• ta = feminine singular
• to = neuter singular

Since solista is treated as a masculine noun here, we use ten solista = this soloist.

One thing that may seem odd is that solista ends in -a, which often looks feminine to English speakers. But some Polish masculine nouns, especially words for professions or people, can end in -a.

Is solista masculine or feminine? It ends in -a.

In this sentence, solista is masculine.

That can feel surprising, because many Polish nouns ending in -a are feminine. But nouns referring to male people can still be masculine even with that ending. For example:

• ten poeta = this poet
• ten artysta = this artist
• ten solista = this soloist

So grammatical gender is not based only on the final letter. You also have to consider the meaning and the pattern the noun belongs to.

A female soloist could also be called solistka, which is clearly feminine:

• ta solistka

Why is it śpiewa and not some other verb form?