"She is a bad person."

Translation: Ona jest złym człowiekiem.

[Taigaer]

Why is "człowiekiem" used for "person" and not "osobą"? If "człowiekiem" is usually used for 'human", and "osobą" is usually used for "person", how does one know when to use the other?

[Jellei]

Well, they do mean exactly what you wrote, but the issue is more complicated. Generally, "osoba" seems to be used a lot less often in Polish than "person" is in English. I wrote everything that came to my mind about this issue here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/19428542

But actually, it suits this sentence perfectly okay and is accepted: "Ona jest złą osobą".

[RonWackowski]

"Ona jest złą osobą" is still marked wrong today (10/9/2019)

[Jellei]

That's really strange, it's definitely on our list of accepted answers.

[Reinier330882]

Is now accepted (24-01-2020)

[Maristella157148]

Even the suggestion when you mouse over the word gives "osobą."

[Jellei]

I changed the hints a bit, so "złym człowiekiem" (and "zły człowiek") will show on top, as there is no 1:1 equivalence between the translations. However, "złą osobą" is also a correct, accepted answer.

[Chris612350]

3/11/2019 Osobą is still not accepted??????

[Jellei]

It really should have worked. Can you post a screenshot? Also, I have to ask if you matched the adjective correctly, because I see several wrong reports for "złym osobą"...