Breakdown of Dzisiaj świętujemy jej pierwsze urodziny.
dzisiaj
today
pierwszy
first
jej
her (possessive)
świętować
to celebrate
Questions & Answers about Dzisiaj świętujemy jej pierwsze urodziny.
Why does the word for "first" end in -e (pierwsze)?
In Polish, the word for birthday, urodziny, is always plural (just like the words "scissors" or "glasses" in English). Because it is a plural noun that doesn't refer to a group of men, any adjective describing it must take the non-masculine plural ending. This makes it pierwsze instead of the masculine singular pierwszy.
The verb świętujemy (we are celebrating) looks long. What is its dictionary form?
The base form is świętować. Verbs that end in -ować follow a special pattern in Polish. When you conjugate them, the -owa- part is removed and replaced by -uj-. That is why "we celebrate" becomes święt-uje-my.
The current lesson teaches how to say ma jeden rok (she is one year old). Why don't we use the word rok (year) here?
This sentence is talking about the name of the event itself ("her first birthday"), rather than stating her age as a number. Just like in English, you can express this milestone in two ways: by stating her age with Ona ma dzisiaj jeden rok (She is one year old today), or by celebrating jej pierwsze urodziny (her first birthday).
Why is there no word for "are" in the Polish sentence?
Polish doesn't have a separate "to be + -ing" tense for actions happening right now. A single present-tense verb like świętujemy translates to both "we celebrate" and "we are celebrating" depending on what makes the most sense in English.