Learn Polish: Czy kapitan jest gotów?

gotów is a special short-form adjective. A few Polish adjectives have these short versions (like ciekaw, pewien, zdrów). They are used exclusively as predicates, meaning they come after a linking verb like być (to be) to describe the subject. While Czy kapitan jest gotowy? is also perfectly correct and more common in everyday speech, using gotów sounds a bit more formal or dramatic.

Can I use gotów directly in front of a noun, like 'a ready captain'?

No. Because short-form adjectives are strictly predicative, they can only live after a verb. If you want to put the adjective directly next to a noun to modify it, you must use the standard full form: gotowy kapitan.

What if the captain were female? Would I use a feminine short form?

No, Polish short-form adjectives like gotów are almost entirely limited to the masculine singular. If you were talking about a female captain, you would just use the standard feminine adjective: Czy pani kapitan jest gotowa?

How would this look in the plural, like 'Are the captains ready?'

For the masculine personal plural, there is no special short form that differs from the standard adjective. You just use the regular nominative masculine personal plural: Czy kapitanowie są gotowi?