Learn Polish: Dwudziesty pierwszy poziom jest bardzo trudny. - The twenty-first level is very difficult.

Dwudziesty pierwszy poziom jest bardzo trudny.

The twenty-first level is very difficult.

Breakdown of Dwudziesty pierwszy poziom jest bardzo trudny.

Questions & Answers about Dwudziesty pierwszy poziom jest bardzo trudny.

How do we form compound ordinal numbers like "twenty-first" in Polish?

In Polish, both parts of the number are ordinals and act like adjectives. For "twenty-first", you use the ordinal for 20 (dwudziesty) and the ordinal for 1 (pierwszy). They are written as two separate words.

Why do both dwudziesty and pierwszy end in -y here?

Because they must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word poziom (level) is a masculine noun in the subject position, so both parts of the ordinal number take the masculine adjective ending -y.

If the grammatical case changes, do both parts of dwudziesty pierwszy change endings?

Yes! Unlike English, where only the last word changes, in Polish both words decline. For example, if you say "on the twenty-first level", both words change to match the new case: na dwudziestym pierwszym poziomie.

Why do we use trudny instead of trudno?

We use the adjective trudny because it describes a specific noun, poziom. You would use the adverb trudno for general statements without a specific subject, like Jest bardzo trudno (It is very difficult).