Question 1

How is the comparative adjective ciemniejszy (darker) formed from the basic word for "dark"?

Accepted Answer

The basic adjective is ciemny (dark). To make comparative adjectives, we drop the final -y and add an ending. Because the stem of ciemny ends in a cluster of two consonants (-mn-), we add the ending -ejszy instead of just -szy. So, ciemn- + -ejszy gives us ciemniejszy.

Question 2

Why is ten ciemniejszy pokój in the nominative case? Shouldn't the thing I like be the object?

Accepted Answer

In Polish, the verb podobać się behaves differently than "to like" in English. It literally translates to "to be pleasing to". The sentence is actually structured as "This darker room is pleasing to me." Because the room is doing the action of being pleasing, ten ciemniejszy pokój is the subject of the sentence, which means it must be in the nominative case.

Question 3

How would the word ciemniejszy change if we were talking about a feminine noun, like lampa (lamp)?

Accepted Answer

Comparative adjectives still have to agree with the gender of the noun. The -y at the very end of ciemniejszy is the masculine nominative ending. If you were talking about a feminine noun like lampa, you would swap the -y for an -a, making it Ta ciemniejsza lampa mi się podoba.

Question 4

Could I use the word mnie instead of mi here?

Accepted Answer

In this exact sentence, mi is the best choice. Both words mean "to me" (the dative case of "I"). However, mi is the short, unstressed form used in the middle of a sentence. You would only use the long form mnie if you wanted to strongly emphasize that you like it (usually putting it at the start: Mnie podoba się ten pokój, ale tobie nie).

Podoba mi się ten ciemniejszy pokój.

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