Questions & Answers about Z drugiej strony jest daleko od domu.
Why does Polish use z (from) and strony (side) to mean "on the other hand"?
English uses "hand" and "on", but the Polish idiom translates literally to "from the second side". If you used na drugiej stronie, it would physically mean "on the other side" (like crossing the street). If you used z drugiej ręki, it would mean "second-hand" (like buying a used car)!
Why is it drugiej strony instead of druga strona?
The phrase starts with the preposition z. When z means "from", it forces the following words into the genitive case. Therefore, the basic form druga strona changes to the genitive drugiej strony.
Why is there no word for "it" before jest?
Polish often drops pronouns when the context makes the subject obvious. While you could say to jest daleko (it is far), simply using the verb jest on its own is perfectly natural and common in Polish.
Why does dom change to domu after od?
The preposition od (from) always requires the genitive case. For most inanimate masculine nouns like dom (home/house), the genitive ending is -u, which makes it domu.