Ósmy rachunek jest wysoki.

Ósmy is the ordinal number meaning eighth, and in Polish ordinal numbers behave like adjectives. That means they have to agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, the noun is rachunek, which is masculine singular nominative, so the matching form is ósmy.

If the noun were feminine, you would get ósma. For example:

• ósma strona = the eighth page

Because both words agree with rachunek.

• rachunek is masculine
• it is singular
• in this sentence it is in the nominative

So:

• ósmy rachunek = masculine singular nominative
• rachunek jest wysoki = wysoki also matches the same noun

This is very normal in Polish: adjectives usually match the noun they refer to.

A very common clue in Polish is the noun ending.

Rachunek ends in a consonant, and nouns like that are often masculine. That is not a perfect rule, but it is a very useful first guess.

You can also see it from agreement:

• ten rachunek
• ósmy rachunek
• wysoki rachunek

Those masculine forms confirm it.

Rachunek has several possible meanings depending on context, including:

• bill
• check in a restaurant
• account
• calculation

So the exact meaning depends on the situation.

In a sentence like this, learners often first understand it as bill. That makes wysoki sound natural in the sense of a bill with a large amount.

Here jest is the present-tense form of być, meaning is.

In this sentence, it links the subject with the adjective:

• rachunek jest wysoki = the bill is high

In standard Polish, with this kind of adjective predicate, jest is normally used. So you generally should not drop it here.

Yes. Wysoki literally means high or tall, but in Polish it is also used for things like:

• high price
• high bill
• high salary

So wysoki rachunek is a natural way to say that the bill is large in amount.

A useful comparison:

• wysoka cena = a high price
• wysoki rachunek = a high bill

The adjective changes form because cena is feminine, but rachunek is masculine.

The whole sentence is built around the nominative.

• Ósmy rachunek is the subject, so it is in the nominative singular
• wysoki is also in the nominative singular masculine because it is the adjective complement after jest

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

Polish does not have articles like a and the.

So ósmy rachunek can mean:

• eighth bill
• the eighth bill

Which one is intended depends on context.

This is very common in Polish, and English speakers have to get used to understanding definiteness from the situation rather than from an article.

The order here is the most neutral one:

• Ósmy rachunek jest wysoki.

That is a normal subject + verb + adjective pattern.

Polish word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible, but they may sound more marked or emphasize a different part of the sentence.

Also notice the difference between:

• ósmy rachunek = the eighth bill
• wysoki rachunek = a high bill

When the adjective directly describes the noun, it usually goes before the noun.
But in rachunek jest wysoki, the adjective comes after the verb because it is part of the predicate.

Yes, it is grammatical and understandable.

It sounds natural if there is a context where you are counting bills, invoices, accounts, or similar items, and you want to say something about the eighth one.

Without context, it can sound a little specific, but not wrong. The slightly unusual part is not the grammar, but the fact that the eighth bill is a very particular thing to mention out of nowhere.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Ósmy ≈ OOS-mih
• rachunek ≈ ra-HOO-nek
• jest ≈ yest
• wysoki ≈ vih-SO-kee

A few helpful notes:

• ó sounds like Polish u, roughly like English oo
• ch in rachunek is like the sound in Scottish loch or German Bach
• Polish stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable, so:
  • raCHUnek
  • wySOki

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

In the middle of a sentence, it would normally be lowercase:

• To jest ósmy rachunek.