Ja liczę liście na drzewie.

I count the leaves on the tree.

Breakdown of Ja liczę liście na drzewie.

• ja: I
• na: on
• liść: the leaf
• drzewo: the tree
• liczyć: to count

Questions & Answers about Ja liczę liście na drzewie.

Why is ja used here? Could I omit it?

In Polish, subject pronouns like ja are usually dropped because the verb ending already indicates the subject. Including ja adds emphasis or contrast (“I, specifically, am counting…”). You can omit it and say Liczę liście na drzewie, which is more natural unless you want to stress that it’s you doing the counting.

What tense and aspect is liczę, and how does it relate to liczyć?

Liczę is the first-person singular present tense of the imperfective verb liczyć (to count). Imperfective aspect describes ongoing or habitual actions. If you want to express a single completed action, use the perfective counterpart policzyć in past tense: Policzyłem liście na drzewie (“I counted the leaves on the tree”).

What case is liście, and why does it look like the nominative plural?

Here liście is the accusative plural of liść (leaf), because it’s the direct object of liczyć. In Polish, inanimate masculine-or-feminine nouns have identical forms in the nominative and accusative plural, so liście serves both roles.

Why is drzewie used instead of drzewo, and what case is it?

Drzewie is the locative singular of drzewo (tree). The preposition na, when showing location (where something is), requires the locative case. Hence na drzewie means “on the tree.”

Could I say w drzewie or drop the preposition entirely?

No. Na drzewie is the correct way to express being on the surface of the tree. W drzewie would mean “inside the tree,” which doesn’t fit. You must use the preposition; you cannot say just drzewie alone.

How do you pronounce liczę liście na drzewie?

Roughly:
• liczę /ˈlit͡ʂɛ/ (“LEE-cheh”)
• liście /ˈliɕt͡ɕɛ/ (“LEE-shcheh”)
• na /na/ (“nah”)
• drzewie /ˈdʐɛvjɛ/ (“DZHYEH-vyeh”)
Note that rz sounds like English “zh,” and soft consonants ś and ć are palatalized “sh” and “ch.”

Are there other verbs I could use instead of liczyć, like zliczać or policzyć?

Yes.
• zliczać (imperfective) means “to tally up,” often more formal or technical.
• policzyć is the perfective counterpart of liczyć, indicating a completed count.
Example: Muszę dokładnie zliczyć głosy (“I need to tally up the votes precisely”).