It’s time to learn how to describe in Polish. For that we need to use adjectives.
Adjective in Polish is przymiotnik.
Polish adjectives end in either –y [vast majority] or –i.
Since Polish has gender and plural, each adjective can have 4 forms… sometimes more, but we’ll talk about those additional endings in another lesson.
Let’s start with a simple adjective – ciekawy. It means interesting.
| ciekawy [interesting] |
| M. | F. | N. | Pl. |
|---|---|---|---|
| ciekawy | ciekawa | ciekawe | ciekawe |
| To są ciekawe ksiązki. Those are interesting books. |
| To jest ciekawa dziewczyna. That’s an interesting girl. |
| To jest ciekawy chłopak. That’s an interesting boy. |
| To jest ciekawe okno. That’s an interesting window. |
Pretty simple, right?
Other adjectives like this are:
| zdolny | able, talented |
| piękny | pretty, beautiful; nice [appearance] |
| dobry | good |
| zły | bad |
| wolny | free |
| dziwny | weird, strange |
| dumny | proud |
| nowy | new |
| stary | old |
| mały | small |
| duży | big |
| smaczny | tasty |
| szczęśliwy | happy |
| smutny | sad |
| zabawny | entertaining |
| śmieszny | funny |
| bogaty | rich |
| biedny | poor |
| mądry | wise |
| kręcony | curly |
| prosty | simple; straight |
| cudowny | marvelous |
| suchy | dry |
| mokry | wet |
| zakochany | in love |
| czysty | clean |
| brudny | dirty |
| gruby | fat |
| prawy | right |
| szczery | sincere |
| miły | nice, kind [character] |
| Kasia jest zakochana we mnie. Kasia is in love with me. |
| One są dumne z ciebie. They are proud of you. |
| Ten komputer jest bardzo stary. This computer is very old. |
Let’s look at another adjective – drogi. It means expensive. It also has a different ending.
Make note of the rule below:
| Adjectives end in –i if the penultimate [second to last] letter is g, k or p. |
| drogi [expensive] |
| M. | F. | N. | Pl. |
|---|---|---|---|
| drogi | droga | drogie | drogie |
| Jej sukienki są drogie. Her dresses are expensive. |
| Nasza biżuteria jest taka droga. Our jewelry is so expensive. |
| To okno jest drogie. This window is expensive. |
| Ten nowy komputer jest drogi. This new computer is expensive. |
Similar adjectives are:
| wysoki | tall; high |
| taki | such |
| lekki | light |
| niski | short; low |
| szybki | fast |
| wielki | great |
| głupi | stupid |
| ciężki | heavy; difficult |
| długi | long |
| krótki | short |
| brzydki | ugly |
| Takie domy są piękne i drogie. Such homes are beautiful and expensive. |
| Głupi człowiek nie wie, co robić. The stupid person doesn’t know what to do. |
| Na stole leżała ciężka książka. A heavy book was on the table. |
Well, that just about sums it all up.
I’d say we made good progress here.
There is more to say on Polish adjectives, but there will be a lesson for that.
See you soon!