Questions & Answers about Mój nowy garnitur kosztuje pięćset złotych.
How is the word pięćset (five hundred) put together?
It is made by combining pięć (five) and -set, which is the genitive plural form of sto (one hundred). You can think of it literally as 'five of hundreds'. You will see this same -set ending on all cardinal numbers from 500 to 900, like sześćset (600) and siedemset (700).
Why does the sentence use złotych instead of just złoty or złote?
In Polish, any number from 5 upwards (including large round numbers like 500) makes the noun that follows it take the genitive plural case. Because we are talking about exactly 500, the currency becomes złotych (which translates literally to 'of zlotys').
Why are the adjectives mój and nowy in these exact forms?
The word garnitur (suit) is a masculine noun. Since the suit is the subject of the sentence (it is doing the action of 'costing'), it is in the nominative case. Both mój (my) and nowy (new) must use their basic masculine singular nominative forms to match it.
The verb kosztuje (costs) seems related to the English word 'cost'. How does it conjugate?