Questions & Answers about To jest nowy telefon.
Why does the adjective nowy end in -y here?
In Polish, adjectives change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. Since telefon is a masculine noun, the adjective takes the standard masculine singular ending -y, making it nowy.
How can I tell that telefon is a masculine noun?
You can usually tell a noun's gender in Polish by its very last letter. Because telefon ends in a consonant (the letter "n"), it is a masculine noun. For comparison, feminine nouns typically end in -a, and neuter nouns usually end in -o or -e.
Since telefon is masculine, why do we start the sentence with the neutral word To instead of the masculine Ten?
When you introduce something using the structure "This is a..." or "It is a...", you always use the fixed phrase To jest..., no matter the gender of the noun! You would only use the masculine Ten if it were directly attached to the noun as a determiner, like in the phrase Ten telefon jest nowy (This phone is new).
I've seen some masculine adjectives end in -i. Why is this one nowy and not nowi?