Breakdown of Jaki jest ten krakowianin? Pracowity, podobnie jak poznanianin.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
jaki
what kind of, what ... like (asks for an adjective)
pracowity
hardworking
Questions & Answers about Jaki jest ten krakowianin? Pracowity, podobnie jak poznanianin.
Why are krakowianin and poznanianin written with lowercase letters?
In Polish, the names of inhabitants of cities, towns, and villages are always written in lowercase (e.g., krakowianin, londynczyk). This often surprises English speakers! You only capitalize the names of inhabitants of countries, continents, or large geographical regions (like Polak, Europejczyk, or Ślązak).
Both of these demonyms end in -anin. Is this the standard suffix for city inhabitants?
It is one of the most common ones, though not the only one. The -anin suffix is very often used to derive inhabitants of older, historically significant Polish cities (like Kraków -> krakowianin, Poznań -> poznanianin, or Warszawa -> warszawianin). Watch out for the plural: the -in drops off, making them krakowianie and poznanianie.
Why does the question use Jaki jest instead of Kim jest?
Jaki jest... literally means "What is [he] like?" and expects an adjective as an answer, describing his traits or qualities (in this case, pracowity). If the question were Kim jest ten krakowianin? ("Who is this Cracovian man?"), it would expect a noun in the instrumental case as the answer, such as a profession or his relationship to someone.