Word
Kim jest ta kobieta? Jest kelnerką.
Meaning
Who is this woman? She is a waitress.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Kim jest ta kobieta? Jest kelnerką.
Why do we start the question with Kim instead of Kto?
Kim is the Instrumental case form of kto (who). In Polish, when you ask about someone's profession, role, or identity using the verb być (to be), both the question word and the answer need to be in the Instrumental case.
Why does the word for waitress change to kelnerką?
When you state someone's profession using the verb być, the profession must be in the Instrumental case. The dictionary form of the word is kelnerka. For feminine nouns ending in -a, the Instrumental ending is -ą, so it becomes kelnerką.
If we use the Instrumental case with być, why is ta kobieta not in the Instrumental case?
ta kobieta (this woman) is the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the basic Nominative case. Only the noun that describes what the subject is (like their profession or relationship) changes to the Instrumental case.
Why doesn't the second sentence say Ona jest kelnerką?
In Polish, you don't always need to use subject pronouns like ona (she). The verb jest and the context of the first sentence already make it perfectly clear who you are talking about, so the pronoun is usually dropped to sound more natural.