Dzieci śpią teraz w pokoju.

The children are sleeping in the room now.

Breakdown of Dzieci śpią teraz w pokoju.

• w: in
• dziecko: the child
• pokój: the room
• teraz: now
• spać: to sleep

Questions & Answers about Dzieci śpią teraz w pokoju.

Why isn't there a word for the or a in Dzieci śpią teraz w pokoju?

Polish does not use articles like the or a. Definiteness and indefiniteness are inferred from context or added with demonstratives (e.g. te dzieci “these children”) or quantifiers (e.g. jakieś dzieci “some children”), but there is no separate word for “the” or “a.”

Why is the verb śpią and not śpi?

The verb śpią is the 3rd person plural form of spać (“to sleep”). Since the subject dzieci (“children”) is plural, we use: • ja śpię “I sleep”
• ty śpisz “you sleep”
• on/ona śpi “he/she sleeps”
• my śpimy “we sleep”
• wy śpicie “you (pl.) sleep”
• oni/one śpią “they sleep”

What case is w pokoju, and why is pokój changed to pokoju?

The phrase w pokoju uses the locative case, which is required after the preposition w when expressing location (“in”). The nominative singular pokój (“room”) changes its ending to -u in the locative:
pokój (nom.) → w pokoju (loc.)

Why is the plural of dziecko dzieci instead of the expected dziecka?

Dziecko (“child”) is a neuter noun with an irregular plural. Instead of following the regular neuter –o>–a pattern (which would give dziecka), it takes the suppletive form dzieci (“children”). You simply have to memorize this common irregular plural.

Can I move teraz (“now”) around in the sentence?

Yes. Polish word order is relatively flexible. You can say any of the following with virtually the same meaning, though each placement carries a slight emphasis:
• Teraz dzieci śpią w pokoju. (Emphasis on now)
• Dzieci teraz śpią w pokoju. (Neutral)
• Dzieci śpią teraz w pokoju. (Neutral)
• Dzieci śpią w pokoju teraz. (Still acceptable, a bit more colloquial)

Do I need a special tense to say “are sleeping,” like the English progressive?

No. Polish does not have a separate progressive aspect. The simple present tense (e.g. śpią) covers both “sleep” and “are sleeping.” Context and adverbs (like teraz) indicate whether the action is happening right now.

How do I pronounce Dzieci śpią teraz w pokoju?

Approximate pronunciation using English letters:
• Dzieci – “JYEH-chee” (IPA: [ˈdʑɛ.t͡ɕi])
• śpią – “sh-PYon” (IPA: [ɕpʲɔw̃]) – the final “on” is nasal
• teraz – “TEH-ras” (IPA: [ˈtɛ.ras])
• w – “v” (IPA: [v])
• pokoju – “poh-KO-yoo” (IPA: [pɔˈkɔ.ju])

What do the diacritics in śpią do?

• ś (s with an acute) indicates a soft [ɕ] sound (similar to English “sh,” but palatalized).
• ą (a with an ogonek) represents a nasal vowel [ɔ̃], roughly like the French “on” in bon.
These marks change both the pronunciation and the meaning of words in Polish.