On podaje herbatę w kuchni.

He serves tea in the kitchen.

Breakdown of On podaje herbatę w kuchni.

• on: he
• w: in
• herbata: the tea
• kuchnia: the kitchen
• podawać: to serve

Questions & Answers about On podaje herbatę w kuchni.

Why do we use on in this sentence? Can’t we omit it?

In Polish, subject pronouns (ja, ty, on, ona, etc.) are often dropped because the verb ending already indicates the subject. We include on here mainly for:

• Emphasis (“He is the one who serves tea.”)
• Contrast (“He serves tea, not someone else.”)
• Clarity, especially in written or formal contexts.

If you drop on, the sentence Podaje herbatę w kuchni. is still correct and means the same, but with a bit less emphasis on “he.”

What is podaje? Which tense and aspect is it?

• Podaje is the 3rd person singular, present tense form of the imperfective verb podawać (“to serve,” “to hand over”).
• Imperfective aspect indicates a repeated or ongoing action (He serves/keeps serving).
• If you wanted to express a single completed action (“He has served tea”), you’d use the perfective podać: On podał herbatę w kuchni.

Why is herbatę in the Accusative case?

• Herbata is the direct object (what is being served?), so it takes the Accusative.
• Feminine nouns ending in -a change that ending to -ę in the Accusative: herbata → herbatę.

What about w kuchni? Why w, and which case is kuchni?

• w (“in”) + Locative case expresses location.
• Kuchnia (kitchen) in Locative becomes kuchni.
• You cannot use na (“on”) here, because that suggests a surface rather than inside.
• To express movement toward the kitchen you’d use do
  • Genitive: on idzie do kuchni (“he’s going into the kitchen”).

Can I change the word order? For example: W kuchni on podaje herbatę?

Yes. Polish has relatively free word order. Shifting elements changes emphasis:

• On podaje herbatę w kuchni. – neutral.
• W kuchni on podaje herbatę. – highlights location (“It’s in the kitchen that he serves tea.”).
• Herbatę on podaje w kuchni. – highlights herbata (“It’s tea that he serves in the kitchen.”).

How would I make this sentence negative?

Place nie before the verb and put the object in the Accusative (still herbatę).
On nie podaje herbaty w kuchni.
(“He does not serve tea in the kitchen.”)

What’s the pronunciation?

On podaje herbatę w kuchni
IPA: [ɔn pɔˈdajɛ xɛrˈbatɛ f ˈxut͡ʂɲi]
Stress is on the penultimate syllable of podaje (paˈda) and herbatę (herˈba).