Questions & Answers about Ta kobieta to rozumie.
Why does the sentence use Ta at the beginning, but to in the middle? Don't they both mean "this"?
Yes, they both mean "this", but Polish matches the word for "this" to the gender of the noun. Kobieta (woman) is a feminine noun, so we must use the feminine form ta. The to in the middle is the neuter form, used here as a standalone pronoun meaning "this thing" or "it".
Wait, I thought to meant "this is"?
It often does! You've probably seen it in sentences like To jest kot (This is a cat). However, to is also just the regular neuter pronoun for "this" or "it". In this sentence, it is the direct object: she understands this.
Why isn't the verb rozumiem?
Rozumiem means "I understand". Since the subject of our sentence is Ta kobieta (This woman / she), we have to use the "he/she/it" form of the verb, which is rozumie.
Why doesn't to change its ending since it's the object of the verb (Accusative case)?
Normally, direct objects change their endings (for example, kobieta would become kobietę if she were the object). But neuter words are a lucky exception for learners: their object form is always exactly the same as their subject form. So to just stays to!