Sign inSign up

Dzieci zostają w bibliotece po lekcji.

Dzieci zostają w bibliotece po lekcji.
The children stay in the library after class.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Polish now

Questions & Answers about Dzieci zostają w bibliotece po lekcji.

What does the verb form zostają tell me about tense and aspect, and how would I say “they will stay”?
  • Zostają is present tense, imperfective, 3rd person plural of zostawać (to stay, be staying).
  • It can describe what’s happening now or a habitual action.
  • For a one-time future “they will stay,” use the perfective future: zostaną (from zostać).
  • For a repeated/ongoing future, use the analytic future: będą zostawać. Examples:
  • Jutro dzieci zostaną w bibliotece. (one occasion)
  • W przyszłym tygodniu dzieci będą zostawać w bibliotece. (repeated)
Why is it po lekcji and not something like po lekcję?
  • The preposition po governs the locative case when it means “after (time).”
  • Lekcja (lesson) in the locative singular is lekcji.
  • So “after the lesson” is po lekcji.
  • Plural: po lekcjach = “after classes.”
Why is it w bibliotece and not w biblioteka?
  • The preposition w (“in”) also takes the locative case.
  • Biblioteka (library) in the locative singular is bibliotece.
  • Many feminine nouns in -ka change to -ce in the locative: -ka → -ce (e.g., stołówka → stołówce).
Could I say na bibliotece instead of w bibliotece?
  • No. For being inside a library, use w: w bibliotece.
  • Polish sometimes uses na with certain institutions (e.g., na uniwersytecie, na poczcie), but with library it’s standardly w bibliotece.
Can I change the word order? For example: Po lekcji dzieci zostają w bibliotece?
  • Yes, Polish allows flexible word order. All of these are fine, with slight changes in emphasis:
    • Dzieci zostają w bibliotece po lekcji. (neutral)
    • Po lekcji dzieci zostają w bibliotece. (emphasis on the time)
    • W bibliotece dzieci zostają po lekcji. (emphasis on the place)
What’s the grammatical behavior of dzieci? Which pronoun agrees with it?
  • Dzieci is the plural of dziecko (child). It’s grammatically non-masculine-personal plural.
  • Use the pronoun one (not oni), and non-masculine-personal agreement.
  • Past tense example: Dzieci zostały (not: ×zostali).
Does zostają mean they’re staying right now, or that they usually stay?
  • It can be either, depending on context:
    • Right now: “The children are staying (today).”
    • Habitual: “The children stay (as a routine).”
  • Add adverbs to clarify:
    • teraz (now), dzisiaj (today) for now;
    • zwykle/zazwyczaj (usually) for habitual.
What’s the difference between po lekcji, po lekcjach, and po zajęciach?
  • Po lekcji = after the (one) lesson (often “after class” on a given day).
  • Po lekcjach = after (the day’s) classes (all lessons that day).
  • Po zajęciach = after classes/activities (more general, common in secondary/tertiary contexts).
Is lekcji here locative or genitive? They look the same.
  • It’s locative, required by po (“after”).
  • Many feminine nouns in -cja have identical genitive and locative singular in -cji. The preposition tells you which case it is.
Do I ever need we instead of w, e.g., we bibliotece?
  • Use we before difficult clusters or words starting with w or f, e.g., we wtorek, we Wrocławiu, we Francji.
  • With bibliotece, the normal form is w bibliotece.
How do I pronounce dzieci?
  • Roughly: “JEH-chee.”
  • Details:
    • dzi before a vowel is like a soft “j” in “jeans,” but more palatal: [d͡ʑ].
    • ci is a soft “ch/ty” sound: [t͡ɕ].
    • Stress the first syllable: DZIE-ci.
How do I pronounce zostają, and what sound does ą make?
  • Approximation: “zos-TA-yon.”
  • ą is a nasal vowel. At the end of a word (or before stops), it sounds like “on/om”-ish; here after j, it’s close to “yon.”
  • Stress is on the penultimate syllable: zo-STAJ-ą.
Where is the stress in the other words?
  • Polish stresses the penultimate syllable.
  • w bibliotece → bi-blio-TE-ce
  • po lekcji → LEK-cji
I often confuse zostają (they stay) with zostawiają (they leave [something behind]). Any tips?
  • Watch the extra -wa- in zostawiają.
    • zostają = they stay (from zostawać)
    • zostawiają = they leave/are leaving (something) (from zostawiać)
  • Minimal pair:
    • Dzieci zostają w bibliotece. (The children are staying in the library.)
    • Dzieci zostawiają książki w bibliotece. (The children leave their books in the library.)
How do I negate the sentence?
  • Add nie before the verb:
    • Dzieci nie zostają w bibliotece po lekcji.
Can present tense in Polish talk about a scheduled future?
  • Yes. Present tense of an imperfective verb can express a planned/scheduled future:
    • Jutro dzieci zostają w bibliotece. (Tomorrow the children are staying in the library.)
  • For a one-off, completed future, the perfective future (zostaną) is more natural.
If I want to add an adjective to “library,” how does it change?
  • Adjectives agree in case, number, and gender. Locative feminine singular takes -ej.
    • w dużej bibliotece (in a big library)
    • w szkolnej bibliotece (in the school library)
    • w cichej bibliotece (in a quiet library)
Is there a more formal synonym for zostają?
  • Pozostają is a bit more formal/elevated:
    • Dzieci pozostają w bibliotece po lekcji. (perfectly correct, slightly more formal tone)
Anything tricky about the noun dzieci I should know?
  • It’s irregular and plural-only for “children.”
  • Agreement is non-masculine-personal: use one, past participles like -ły (e.g., były, zostały).
  • Some cases are irregular:
    • Dat. pl.: dzieciom
    • Instr. pl.: dziećmi
    • Loc. pl.: dzieciach
  • With numerals, use collective forms for small counts: dwoje dzieci, troje dzieci (not ×dwa dzieci).