Nadwozie jest czyste.

Nadwozie is a neuter noun.

One clue is its ending: many Polish neuter nouns end in -e, -o, or -ę. So when you see nadwozie, it is natural to expect neuter agreement.

That matters because adjectives have to match the noun’s gender, number, and usually case.

Because czyste has to agree with nadwozie.

The adjective czysty means clean in its basic dictionary form, which is usually the masculine singular form. But here the noun is neuter singular, so the adjective changes:

• masculine: czysty
• feminine: czysta
• neuter: czyste

So:

• samochód jest czysty = the car is clean
• karoseria jest czysta = the bodywork is clean
• nadwozie jest czyste = the body is clean

Jest is the 3rd person singular present tense of być = to be.

So it can mean:

• he is
• she is
• it is

In this sentence, it means it is, because nadwozie is a singular noun.

A few forms of być in the present tense are:

• jestem = I am
• jesteś = you are
• jest = he/she/it is
• jesteśmy = we are
• jesteście = you are
• są = they are

Nadwozie is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

The sentence structure is basically:

Nadwozie + jest + czyste
subject + verb + predicate adjective

This is similar to English The body is clean.

Here czyste is also in the nominative singular neuter.

With być + adjective, Polish normally uses the adjective in a form that agrees with the subject. Since the subject is nadwozie (neuter singular nominative), the adjective appears as czyste.

So the agreement is:

• nadwozie — neuter singular
• czyste — neuter singular

Polish does not have articles like English a or the.

So Nadwozie jest czyste can mean:

• The body is clean
• A body is clean
• Bodywork is clean

In practice, the context tells you which English translation is best.

This is very normal in Polish, so learners have to get used to understanding definiteness from the situation rather than from a separate word.

In normal, complete Polish, Nadwozie jest czyste is the standard form.

You may sometimes hear or see Nadwozie czyste, but that sounds more elliptical, note-like, headline-like, or conversational in a special context. It is not the neutral full sentence most learners should start with.

So as a learner, it is best to use:

Nadwozie jest czyste.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• nadwozie ≈ nad-VOH-zhyeh
• jest ≈ yest
• czyste ≈ CHIS-teh, but with the Polish y, which is not exactly English i

A few useful sound notes:

• j in Polish sounds like English y
• cz sounds like ch in chop, but more retroflex
• ie often sounds like ye after a consonant
• Polish y is a distinct vowel that English does not have exactly

If you want a more phonetic version:

nadwozie jest czyste
≈ nad-VOH-zhyeh yest CHIS-teh

The most neutral word order is:

Nadwozie jest czyste.

Polish word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible, for example for emphasis. But they can sound marked or context-dependent.

For a beginner, the safest option is to keep the standard order: subject + jest + adjective

Usually, yes. Nadwozie most often refers to a vehicle body, especially a car body or body shell.

So in many contexts it is closer to:

• car body
• bodywork
• vehicle body

A related word is karoseria, which also means bodywork and is very common in everyday language.

For example:

• Nadwozie jest czyste.
• Karoseria jest czysta.

Both are possible, but karoseria may sound more everyday in some contexts.

The dictionary form is czysty.

Polish dictionaries usually list adjectives in the masculine singular nominative form. So even though the sentence uses czyste, you would normally look up czysty.

Here are some forms of czysty:

• czysty — masculine singular
• czysta — feminine singular
• czyste — neuter singular
• czyści — masculine personal plural
• czyste — non-masculine-personal plural

So when learning vocabulary, it is good to remember:

czysty = clean
but in the sentence it becomes czyste because of nadwozie.