Oni chcą nowy samochód.

They want a new car.

Breakdown of Oni chcą nowy samochód.

• oni: they
• nowy: new
• samochód: the car
• chcieć: to want

Questions & Answers about Oni chcą nowy samochód.

Why is the pronoun Oni used when chcą already signals “they”?

In Polish, the verb ending -ą in chcą already indicates third person plural (“they want”). Including Oni is optional and is often used for emphasis or clarity. You could simply say Chcą nowy samochód and it would still mean “They want a new car,” but with Oni it’s a neutral, full sentence.

What case is nowy samochód in and why doesn’t it look declined?

The verb chcieć (to want) takes a direct object in the accusative case. Samochód (car) is a masculine inanimate noun, and for masculine inanimate nouns the nominative and accusative singular forms are identical. That’s why you see samochód without a special accusative ending. Similarly, the adjective nowy remains in its masculine singular form.

Why is the adjective not nowego?

The ending -ego signals either genitive case or masculine singular accusative animate form. Since samochód is inanimate and you need the accusative case (not the genitive), you use its inanimate accusative ending, which is identical to the nominative: nowy. So you get nowy samochód, not nowego samochód.

How is chcą formed from the infinitive chcieć?

Here’s the present‐tense conjugation of chcieć:
• 1 sg: chcę
• 2 sg: chcesz
• 3 sg: chce
• 1 pl: chcemy
• 2 pl: chcecie
• 3 pl: chcą
Thus chcą is simply the 3 pl form meaning “they want.”

How do you pronounce chcą, ó, and ą?

• ch is pronounced like the German Bach /x/ (a voiceless velar fricative).
• ą is a nasal vowel, similar to French on in bon /ɔ̃/.
• ó is pronounced like u in put /u/.
So chcą sounds roughly like /xt͡sɔ̃/, nowy like /ˈnɔvɨ/, and samochód like /saˈmɔxut/.

Where is the stress in Oni chcą nowy samochód?

Polish typically stresses the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable of a word:
• Oni = O-ni
• chcą (one syllable, so that’s stressed)
• nowy = no-wy
• samochód = sa-mo-chód

Does nowy samochód mean “a new car” or “the new car”?

Polish doesn’t have articles like “a” or “the.” Oni chcą nowy samochód could mean either, depending on context. Often it’s understood as “a new car.” To specify “this new car,” you can add a demonstrative:
• Oni chcą ten nowy samochód (they want this new car).
• Oni chcą tamten nowy samochód (they want that new car over there).

Can I change the word order, for example Nowy samochód chcą oni?

Yes. Polish has a flexible word order. Nowy samochód chcą oni puts focus on nowy samochód (the thing they want). The neutral SVO order is Oni chcą nowy samochód, but you can rearrange words to highlight different parts.