Learn Polish: Gdzie ona jest?

The word jest is the third-person singular form of the verb być (to be). It works for all three third-person pronouns: on (he), ona (she), and ono (it). So it can mean "he is", "she is", or "it is" depending on the pronoun used.

I learned that Polish often drops subject pronouns. Why is ona included in this sentence?

While it is true that Polish usually drops pronouns like ja (I) or ty (you) because the verb form makes it obvious who is acting, third-person pronouns are kept more often. Without ona, the sentence Gdzie jest? just means "Where is he/she/it?", which might be confusing unless the context is already very clear.

Can I swap the order of the words and say Gdzie jest ona? instead?

Yes, Polish word order is very flexible. Both Gdzie ona jest? and Gdzie jest ona? are correct. However, placing a word at the very end of a Polish sentence often gives it extra emphasis. So, Gdzie jest ona? sounds slightly more like "Where is SHE?" in English.

In some languages there are different verbs for "to be" based on location versus description. Is jest used for everything in Polish?

Yes! Unlike some other languages, Polish keeps it simple. You use the exact same verb być whether you are talking about where someone is (like in this sentence), who they are, or what they look like.