Questions & Answers about To jest dobry pies.
Why is the word for "good" spelled dobry here?
Adjectives in Polish must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because pies (dog) is a masculine noun, the adjective takes the masculine singular Nominative ending -y, making it dobry. If the noun were feminine, it would be dobra, and if it were neuter, it would be dobre.
Since pies is masculine, why does the sentence start with To instead of the masculine Ten?
When you are introducing or pointing something out with "This is..." or "It is...", Polish uses the fixed phrase To jest. The word to acts as a neutral placeholder and doesn't change to match the noun. You would only use Ten if you attached it directly to the noun, like in the sentence Ten pies jest dobry (This dog is good).
Why do we use the Nominative (dictionary) form here? Doesn't the verb "to be" usually require the Instrumental case?
You might remember that sentences like "He is a good dog" (On jest dobrym psem) use the Instrumental case. However, the exact phrase To jest... (This is...) is an exception. Whenever you use To jest to identify or introduce something, the following noun and adjective always stay in the basic Nominative case.
Does the adjective dobry always have to come before the noun pies?
Yes, for general descriptions. Just like in English, everyday descriptive adjectives go before the noun in Polish. You will mostly only see adjectives placed after the noun in official classifications, historical titles, or scientific names.