Osłonka ma podstawkę.

Because podstawkę is in the accusative case, which is the case used for the direct object of the verb ma (has).

• Dictionary form: podstawka
• In this sentence: podstawkę

So the pattern is:

• podstawka = nominative singular
• podstawkę = accusative singular

This is very common with feminine nouns ending in -a:

• książka → książkę
• lampa → lampę
• podstawka → podstawkę

Since what does it have? → a base / stand / saucer, Polish uses the accusative: podstawkę.

Because osłonka is the subject of the sentence, and the subject is normally in the nominative case.

In Osłonka ma podstawkę:

• osłonka = the thing doing the having
• ma = has
• podstawkę = the thing being had

So:

• osłonka stays in nominative
• podstawkę changes to accusative

Yes. Osłonka is a feminine noun.

A very common clue in Polish is that nouns ending in -a are often feminine. That is why:

• osłonka ma
• ta osłonka = this cover / holder / casing (feminine ta)

Likewise, podstawka is also feminine.

Ma is the 3rd person singular form of the verb mieć, which means to have.

So:

• mieć = to have
• mam = I have
• masz = you have
• ma = he/she/it has

In this sentence, osłonka is a singular noun, so Polish uses ma:

• Osłonka ma podstawkę = The cover/holder has a base/stand

Because Polish does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So Osłonka ma podstawkę could mean, depending on context:

• A cover has a base
• The cover has a base
• The holder has the stand

Context usually makes it clear.

This is normal in Polish, and learners often need time to get used to it.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

os-WON-ka ma pot-STAF-keng

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• ł sounds like English w
  • osłonka sounds roughly like oswonka
• w in Polish sounds like English v, but there is no w in this sentence
• st and pk are pronounced clearly; Polish keeps consonant clusters more than English does
• final ę is often pronounced only weakly nasal in everyday speech, especially at the end of a word

A more careful breakdown:

• Osłonka ≈ os-WON-ka
• ma ≈ ma
• podstawkę ≈ pot-STAF-kę / pot-STAF-keng

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English because the cases show grammatical roles.

The most neutral order here is:

• Osłonka ma podstawkę.

But other orders are possible, for example for emphasis:

• Podstawkę ma osłonka.
• Ma podstawkę osłonka.

These sound less neutral and depend on context. For a learner, subject + verb + object is the safest default:

• Osłonka ma podstawkę.

The dictionary forms are:

• osłonka → already in dictionary form
• mieć → the infinitive of ma
• podstawka → dictionary form of podstawkę

So if you wanted to look them up, you would search for:

• osłonka
• mieć
• podstawka

Not always exactly. Podstawka can mean something like:

• base
• stand
• holder base
• saucer / small support underneath

The best translation depends on context and what the object actually is.

So in this sentence, podstawkę means some kind of supporting piece underneath the osłonka.

Yes, grammatically it is singular.

• osłonka = one cover/holder
• podstawkę = one base/stand

If it were plural, the forms would be different, for example:

• Osłonka ma podstawki would not be the normal way to say has bases here
• More naturally, with a plural subject and object, you would see different forms such as:
  • Osłonki mają podstawki = The covers have bases

So in your sentence, both nouns are singular.

Yes. In Polish, ma can mean:

• he has
• she has
• it has

Polish usually does not need a separate subject pronoun if the noun is already there.

So:

• Osłonka ma podstawkę = literally Cover has base
• Natural English: The cover has a base

Since osłonka is the subject, we know what ma refers to.

Here is the full breakdown:

• Osłonka — nominative singular
• ma — verb, 3rd person singular of mieć
• podstawkę — accusative singular

So the structure is:

• subject in nominative
• verb
• direct object in accusative

That is one of the most basic and useful sentence patterns in Polish.