Breakdown of Główna winda, która jest obok biura, nie działa.
być
to be
nie
no / not
biuro
office
który
which, who (relative)
Questions & Answers about Główna winda, która jest obok biura, nie działa.
Why is it która and not który?
The relative pronoun meaning "which" has to match the gender of the noun it refers to. In this sentence, it points back to winda (elevator), which is a feminine noun. Therefore, we must use the feminine singular form która.
Why does the sentence say biura instead of biuro?
The preposition obok (next to) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the Genitive case. Since biuro (office) is a neuter noun, its Genitive ending is -a, making it biura.
Can I say nie pracuje to mean the elevator doesn't work?
No, Polish makes a strict difference between people working and machines working. You use pracować for people doing a job, but for machines, gadgets, or systems (like an elevator), you must use działać (to function).
Do I really need both commas around the która part?
Yes! Unlike English, where you can sometimes skip commas with "which" or "that", Polish punctuation rules require that you always separate a relative clause (the extra information starting with która) from the rest of the sentence with commas.