Przeszkoda leży w nurcie.

Przeszkoda is a noun meaning obstacle or hindrance. It is feminine in Polish.

You can tell it is feminine because it ends in -a, which is a very common ending for feminine nouns in the nominative singular.

So in this sentence:

• przeszkoda = the obstacle
• it is the subject of the sentence

Leży comes from the verb leżeć, which means to lie or to be lying.

Polish often prefers a more specific verb where English might simply use is. So instead of saying something like The obstacle is in the current, Polish says The obstacle lies in the current / is lying in the current.

Compare:

• Przeszkoda jest w nurcie. = The obstacle is in the current.
• Przeszkoda leży w nurcie. = The obstacle is lying in the current / lies in the current.

The version with leży sounds more natural if the object is physically lying somewhere.

The infinitive is leżeć = to lie.

Leży is the 3rd person singular present tense form, used for:

• he lies
• she lies
• it lies

Since przeszkoda is singular, leży matches it.

A few forms of leżeć:

• ja leżę = I am lying
• ty leżysz = you are lying
• on/ona/ono leży = he/she/it is lying
• my leżymy = we are lying
• wy leżycie = you (plural) are lying
• oni/one leżą = they are lying

After w meaning in, Polish usually takes the locative case when talking about location.

The base form is:

• nurt = current, flow, stream current

But after w for location, it changes to the locative:

• w nurcie = in the current

So:

• nominative: nurt
• locative: w nurcie

This is a normal case change in Polish.

Nurt usually means current, especially the current of a river or stream. It can also mean main flow in a more abstract sense, but in this sentence it most naturally sounds physical: the obstacle is lying in the water current.

So w nurcie suggests:

• in the current
• in the main flow of the water

Not always. After w, the case depends on the meaning.

• w + locative = in / inside / at a location
• w + accusative = motion into

Here it is location, so we get locative:

• Przeszkoda leży w nurcie. = The obstacle is lying in the current.

If there were movement into something, Polish might use the accusative instead.

Yes, potentially, but the most obvious reading is literal.

Literally:

• Przeszkoda leży w nurcie. = The obstacle is lying in the current.

Figuratively, nurt can sometimes mean a trend, current, or main line of thought, but with przeszkoda and leży, the sentence strongly suggests a physical obstacle in moving water unless context says otherwise.

The neutral word order is:

• Przeszkoda leży w nurcie.

That is:

• subject + verb + prepositional phrase

Polish word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• W nurcie leży przeszkoda. = In the current lies an obstacle.
• Leży przeszkoda w nurcie. = more marked, less neutral

But the original sentence is the most straightforward, neutral version.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Przeszkoda ≈ pshesh-KO-da
• leży ≈ LEH-zhih
• w nurcie ≈ v NOOR-chye

A few details:

• sz sounds like sh
• ż sounds like the s in measure
• w in Polish is pronounced like English v
• cie at the end of nurcie sounds roughly like chye

The stress in Polish is usually on the second-to-last syllable, so:

• prze-szko-da → szKO
• le-ży → LE
• nur-cie → NUR

Polish has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of the or a/an.

That means przeszkoda can mean:

• an obstacle
• the obstacle

Which one is meant depends on context.

So Przeszkoda leży w nurcie could be understood as either:

• The obstacle is lying in the current
• An obstacle is lying in the current

If the meaning has already been shown to the learner, the context probably makes it definite.

Sometimes, but they would change the nuance.

• leży = is lying; emphasizes a horizontal resting position
• stoi = is standing; would sound wrong unless the obstacle is upright
• znajduje się = is located; more formal and less vivid

So:

• Przeszkoda leży w nurcie. = natural if the object is physically lying in the water
• Przeszkoda znajduje się w nurcie. = the obstacle is located in the current; correct, but less natural in everyday description

Przeszkoda is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

You can think of it this way:

• What is lying in the current?
• Przeszkoda.

That answer gives you the subject, so nominative is used.

Yes. Leżeć is very commonly used for both people and objects.

Examples:

• Książka leży na stole. = The book is lying on the table.
• On leży na łóżku. = He is lying on the bed.
• Kamień leży w wodzie. = A stone is lying in the water.

So using leży with przeszkoda is completely normal.