Word
To jest tani stół, kosztuje dwieście złotych.
Meaning
This is a cheap table, it costs two hundred zlotys.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about To jest tani stół, kosztuje dwieście złotych.
Why is 200 written as one word, dwieście, instead of dwa sto?
Polish has specific single words for the hundreds. Dwieście (200) is a single combined word rather than two separate words. It uses dwie (which you might recognize as the feminine form of two) plus a form of sto. For hundreds, it is best to just memorize them as set vocabulary words!
Why does the word for zloty change to złotych here?
In Polish, quantities of 5 or more require the noun to take the genitive plural case. Specifically, numbers ending in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 0 (like 200) always trigger the genitive plural. Therefore, the basic word złoty changes to złotych.
I learned that saying what something is requires the instrumental case. Why is tani stół in the basic nominative case here?
Because the sentence starts with To jest (This is). The fixed phrase To jest is a special exception where you simply use the basic dictionary form (nominative) for the noun and its adjective. If you used a regular pronoun instead, like On jest (It is), you would need the instrumental case: tanim stołem.
Will I always use kosztuje when talking about prices?
You use kosztuje when a single item costs something. If you are talking about plural items, for example if you bought two cheap tables, you would need to use the plural form of the verb: kosztują.