Czy ten antyk jest drogi?

Czy is a question particle. It turns a statement into a yes/no question.

• Ten antyk jest drogi. = This antique is expensive.
• Czy ten antyk jest drogi? = Is this antique expensive?

Unlike English, Polish does not need to change the word order the way English does with is.

Ten means this and agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• antyk is masculine singular
• so the correct form is ten

Polish demonstratives change form:

• ten = this (masculine)
• ta = this (feminine)
• to = this (neuter)

So:

• ten antyk = this antique
• ta książka = this book
• to krzesło = this chair

A learner may know to as this/it is, but here to would not be the right demonstrative before antyk.

Because drogi has to agree with antyk, which is a masculine singular noun.

In Polish, adjectives change their endings to match the noun.

Examples:

• drogi antyk = expensive antique (masculine)
• droga książka = expensive book (feminine)
• drogie krzesło = expensive chair (neuter)

So drogi is the masculine singular form of the adjective drogi.

It is in the nominative singular.

That is because antyk is the subject of the sentence:

• ten antyk = this antique

In a basic sentence like This antique is expensive, the subject stays in the nominative.

Jest means is.

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

• ten antyk = this antique
• jest drogi = is expensive

So the whole sentence is literally:

• Czy = question marker
• ten antyk = this antique
• jest = is
• drogi = expensive

In everyday spoken Polish, people sometimes drop jest in casual speech, but in normal standard Polish it is perfectly correct and natural to keep it.

No. Drogi can mean both:

• expensive
• dear / beloved

The meaning depends on context.

Here, because we are talking about an antique and price, drogi clearly means expensive.

Yes, Polish word order is more flexible than English word order.

The most neutral version is:

• Czy ten antyk jest drogi?

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Ten antyk jest drogi?
  This can sound like surprise or confirmation, something like This antique is expensive?

The version with czy is the safest and most standard way to form a simple yes/no question.

Czy is pronounced roughly like chih, but not exactly like English chi.

More precisely:

• cz sounds like English ch in chop
• y is a Polish vowel that does not exist exactly in English; it is a bit like a short, central i

So czy is approximately chy.

Yes, antyk is a normal Polish word. It usually means an antique object, especially an old valuable item such as furniture, a clock, or decoration.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• an antique item
• something old and collectible

It does not automatically mean something from ancient Greece or Rome. In everyday use, it usually means an antique in the sense of an old valuable object.

Yes, you can, but the tone changes.

• Czy ten antyk jest drogi? = neutral, standard: Is this antique expensive?
• Ten antyk jest drogi? = more like This antique is expensive? with a tone of surprise, doubt, or confirmation

For learners, using czy is the clearest and most reliable way to ask a yes/no question.

Polish forms yes/no questions differently from English.

English often uses:

• inversion: Is this antique expensive?
• auxiliaries: Do you like it?

Polish usually does not need either. It can use:

• czy to mark a yes/no question
• intonation in speech

So instead of changing the structure dramatically, Polish can keep the basic statement order and simply add czy at the beginning.