Breakdown of Ślub to wielkie wydarzenie w życiu.
w
in / on (a day)
to
is (linking copula)
życie
life
ślub
wedding
Questions & Answers about Ślub to wielkie wydarzenie w życiu.
Why do we use to for 'is' instead of jest?
In Polish, when you say 'Noun A is Noun B', you can use the word to to connect them. The big advantage of using to is that both nouns stay in their basic dictionary form (the Nominative case). If you used jest, the second noun phrase would have to change to the Instrumental case: Ślub jest wielkim wydarzeniem.
Why is the adjective wielkie instead of wielki or wielka?
It has to match the gender of the noun it describes, which is wydarzenie (event). Because wydarzenie ends in -e, it is a neuter noun. Therefore, the adjective takes the neuter Nominative ending -e, becoming wielkie.
Why does the word for life, życie, change to życiu here?
The preposition w (in) requires the Locative case when talking about a state, time, or location. For neuter nouns that end in -ie like życie, the Locative case ending changes to -iu, making it w życiu.
Could I use duże instead of wielkie to mean a 'big' event?