Word
Jaki jest ten pan? — Bardzo stary.
Meaning
What is this gentleman like? — Very old.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Jaki jest ten pan? — Bardzo stary.
Why use jaki here instead of jak? Doesn't jak mean "how"?
Jak means "how" when asking about actions (like Jak się masz? - How are you?). But when you want to know "what is someone or something like?" (asking for a description), you use jaki for masculine nouns, jaka for feminine, or jakie for neuter. Since pan is masculine, we use jaki.
Does ten pan just mean "this gentleman"?
Yes, ten means "this" or "that" for masculine nouns, and pan means "man", "gentleman", or "Mr.". In everyday Polish, pointing someone out as ten pan is a polite and very common way to say "this man".
Why does stary end in -y?
Polish adjectives change their endings to match the noun they describe. Because pan is a masculine noun, the adjective describing him must be in the masculine form. Most masculine adjectives end in -y, like stary (old).
Do I need to say "On jest bardzo stary" (He is very old) for the answer to be correct?
Not at all! Just like in English, conversational Polish often drops the pronoun and the verb if they are already obvious from the question. Bardzo stary (Very old) is perfectly natural and correct here.