Król jest miły.

The king is kind.

Breakdown of Król jest miły.

• być: to be
• miły: kind
• król: the king

Questions & Answers about Król jest miły.

Why is there no word for the in Król jest miły?

Polish does not have articles like the or a/an.

So król can mean king, a king, or the king, depending on context. In a simple sentence like Król jest miły, English usually translates it as The king is nice or The king is kind, but Polish does not need a separate word for the.

What does jest do in this sentence?

Jest is the 3rd person singular form of być, which means to be.

So here:

• król = king
• jest = is
• miły = nice / kind

Together: Król jest miły = The king is nice/kind.

Unlike in Russian, for example, modern Polish normally keeps the verb to be in present-tense sentences like this.

Why is miły written in that form?

Miły changes its form to match the noun it describes.

Here it matches król, which is:

• singular
• masculine
• nominative

So the adjective appears as miły.

Some related forms are:

• miła for a feminine singular noun
• miłe for a neuter singular noun
• mili / miłe in the plural, depending on the noun group

For example:

• Król jest miły. = The king is nice.
• Królowa jest miła. = The queen is nice.