Breakdown of Mój starszy brat ma trzydzieści lat.
mieć
to have
brat
brother
mój
my
rok
year
starszy
older
trzydzieści
thirty
Questions & Answers about Mój starszy brat ma trzydzieści lat.
Why does the sentence use ma instead of a word for "is"?
In Polish, you don't say that you "are" a certain age. Instead, you "have" years. The verb here is ma, which means "has" (from the base verb mieć, to have). So literally, this sentence translates to "My older brother has thirty years."
Why do we use lat here instead of lata for "years"?
In Polish, the word for "years" changes depending on the number right before it. You use lata for numbers ending in 2, 3, or 4 (like 22, 34, or 43, except for 12, 13, and 14). For numbers ending in 0, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 (including 30, which is trzydzieści), you must use the form lat.
Why are the words Mój and starszy used instead of Moja and starsza?
Adjectives and pronouns must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because brat (brother) is a masculine noun, "my" becomes the masculine Mój and "older" becomes the masculine starszy. If you were talking about a sister (siostra), it would change to the feminine Moja starsza siostra.
How is the number trzydzieści built? Is it related to the word for three?
Yes! Trzydzieści is a combination of trzy (three) and a suffix that means "tens". So it literally means "three tens." Many Polish numbers in the tens are built this exact way, which makes them much easier to remember once you know numbers 1 through 9.
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