Ten solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę.

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.

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

Śpiewa is the 3rd person singular present tense of śpiewać = to sing.

So:

• ja śpiewam = I sing
• ty śpiewasz = you sing
• on/ona śpiewa = he/she sings

Since ten solista is he / this soloist, the correct form is śpiewa.

Polish often uses the reflexive possessive swój when the possessor is the subject of the sentence.

Here, the subject is ten solista, and the favorite song belongs to that same person. So:

• Ten solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę. = The soloist is singing his own favorite song.

Using jego would usually suggest someone else’s song:

• Ten solista śpiewa jego ulubioną piosenkę. = The soloist is singing his favorite song, but probably another man’s favorite song, not his own.

So swój helps avoid ambiguity and is very important in Polish.

Because swój has to agree with the noun it describes, and it also changes for case.

It describes piosenkę (song), which is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative in this sentence

So the correct form is swoją.

You can think of it like this:

• dictionary form: swój
• feminine accusative singular: swoją

Both words are in the accusative singular feminine, because they form the direct object of śpiewa.

The verb śpiewać takes an object:

• sing a song

In Polish, the direct object often goes into the accusative case.

The noun:

• piosenka = song
• accusative singular: piosenkę

The adjective:

• ulubiona = favorite
• accusative singular feminine: ulubioną

So:

• ulubioną piosenkę = favorite song

The adjective must match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Because it is the direct object of the verb śpiewa.

The soloist is doing the action of singing, and the thing being sung is the song. In Polish, that object usually appears in the accusative.

Compare:

• nominative: piosenka = a song
• accusative: piosenkę = a song / the song as the object

So:

• Piosenka jest piękna. = The song is beautiful.
  (piosenka = subject, nominative)

• Śpiewa piosenkę. = He/she sings a song.
  (piosenkę = object, accusative)

In this sentence, ulubioną means favorite.

The base adjective is ulubiony / ulubiona / ulubione, and it is very commonly used for things someone likes best:

• ulubiona piosenka = favorite song
• ulubiony film = favorite film/movie
• ulubione miejsce = favorite place

So here it simply means the song the soloist likes most.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English because case endings show the grammatical roles.

The neutral, straightforward order here is:

• Ten solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Swoją ulubioną piosenkę śpiewa ten solista.
• Ten solista swoją ulubioną piosenkę śpiewa.

These can sound more marked, emphatic, or stylistically different. The original version is the most natural if you are just stating a fact.

Usually ten means this.

So:

• ten solista = this soloist

Polish can express that in several ways depending on context, often with tamten for a stronger contrast:

• tamten solista = that soloist

In everyday speech, ten is very common and can sometimes function a bit more broadly than English this, but for learners it is best to understand ten here as this.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• śpiewa ≈ sh-pye-va
• swoją ≈ svoy-ow̃
• ulubioną ≈ oo-loo-byo-now̃
• piosenkę ≈ pyo-sen-keh

A few important sounds:

• ś is a soft sh sound
• w in Polish sounds like English v
• j sounds like English y
• ą and ę are nasal vowels, though in real speech their pronunciation can vary depending on the next sound

Also, Polish stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:

• śpiewa
• swoją
• ulubioną
• piosenkę

Yes, absolutely.

• Solista śpiewa swoją ulubioną piosenkę. = A/The soloist is singing his favorite song.

Adding ten makes it more specific:

• Ten solista... = This soloist...

So the version with ten points to a particular person, while the version without it is more general or depends more on context.