Questions & Answers about Ona jest ciekawą kobietą.
Why do the words for interesting and woman end in -ą instead of -a?
In Polish, when you use the verb jest (is) followed by a noun, that noun and its describing adjectives must take the Instrumental case. For feminine words that normally end in -a like ciekawa and kobieta, the ending changes to -ą.
What would happen if I used the basic dictionary forms and said Ona jest ciekawa kobieta?
That would be grammatically incorrect. You cannot use the basic dictionary form (the Nominative case) after the verb jest when you are connecting the subject to a noun phrase. You must use the Instrumental forms: ciekawą kobietą.
If I only want to say she is interesting (without the word for woman), do I still use the -ą ending?
No! If you describe someone using only an adjective after jest without a noun, you use the basic dictionary form. You would simply say Ona jest ciekawa. You only need the Instrumental case (ciekawą) here because it is attached to the noun kobietą.
How do I pronounce the -ą ending on ciekawą and kobietą?
The letter ą is a nasal sound, similar to the French nasal on. However, when it appears at the very end of a word in everyday spoken Polish, it is often pronounced almost exactly like the letters om.