Learn Hardcore Polish: Zamawiamy słodką kawę z mlekiem, a kelner dodaje za dużo cukru. - We order sweet coffee with milk, and the waiter adds too much sugar.

Zamawiamy is the 1st person plural present tense of the imperfective verb zamawiać (“to order”). It literally means “we order” or “we are ordering.” Because it’s imperfective, it focuses on the ongoing action rather than its completion.

Why is it słodką kawę instead of słodka kawa?

Kawę is the direct object of zamawiamy, so it must be in the accusative case. The noun kawa (feminine) becomes kawę in the accusative, and the adjective słodki must agree in gender, number, and case, turning into słodką.

Why do we say z mlekiem? What case is mlekiem?

After the preposition z (“with”), Polish uses the instrumental case. The neuter noun mleko in instrumental becomes mlekiem, so z mlekiem means “with milk.”

What role does the conjunction a play here? Could we use ale instead?

Here a links two clauses with a mild contrast: “We order sweet coffee with milk, and (yet) the waiter adds too much sugar.” It’s softer than ale (“but”), which would place a stronger emphasis on the contradiction.

Why is it za dużo cukru and why is cukier in the genitive?

Za dużo means “too much.” When you quantify with dużo, the following noun takes the genitive case. Thus cukier → cukru, giving za dużo cukru = “too much sugar.”

Could we add a pronoun like nam after kelner? Why is it omitted?

Yes: a kelner nam dodaje za dużo cukru (“and the waiter adds too much sugar for us”). In Polish, pronouns are often dropped when the meaning is clear, so omitting nam is perfectly natural.

Is Polish word order flexible here? Could we say Zamawiamy kawę słodką z mlekiem, a kelner cukru za dużo dodaje?

Polish allows some flexibility, but the original (słodką before kawę, za dużo cukru right after dodaje) is most natural. Shifting cukru za dużo dodaje is possible to emphasize cukru, but it sounds marked rather than neutral.