Breakdown of Dziennikarz ogłosił, że ten skandal to prawda.
ten
this (m)
to
is (linking copula)
że
that
dziennikarz
journalist
prawda
truth
ogłosić
to announce
skandal
scandal
Questions & Answers about Dziennikarz ogłosił, że ten skandal to prawda.
Why isn't the second part of the sentence in the past tense, like "was the truth"?
In Polish reported speech, there is no "backshifting" of tenses like there is in English. You simply keep the exact same tense that the person originally used. Since the journalist originally said "This scandal is the truth" (Ten skandal to prawda), the present tense is kept after że, even though the announcing (ogłosił) happened in the past.
Why is there a comma before że?
In Polish, you must always put a comma before subordinate conjunctions like że (that) when they introduce a new clause. English rarely uses a comma before "that" in these situations, so this is an important punctuation habit to build for Polish!
Why does the sentence use to instead of jest for "is"?
When you are saying that one noun is another noun (Scandal = Truth), you can use the word to as a replacement for "is". When you use to like this, both nouns stay in the basic Nominative case, which is why we see ten skandal to prawda.
Could I use jest instead of to in this sentence?
Yes, but it changes the grammar for the second noun! If you use a regular form of the verb być (to be) like jest, the noun that follows it must take the Instrumental case. So the phrase would have to change to: ...że ten skandal jest prawdą.
What is the infinitive form of ogłosił, and is it perfective or imperfective?
The infinitive is ogłosić (to announce). It is a perfective verb, meaning it describes a one-time, completed action. The journalist made the announcement, and it is done.
Learn Dziennikarz ogłosił, że ten skandal to prawda and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free