Learn Hardcore Polish: Mój telefon jest w środku torby.

Because w środku (“inside, in the middle of”) takes the genitive case for the container. Torby is genitive singular of torba (a bag). If you used simple “in” without “inside,” you’d use the locative: w torbie.

inside the bag: w środku torby (genitive)
in the bag: w torbie (locative)

What’s the difference between w środku torby and w torbie?

Both can mean “in the bag,” but:

w torbie is the straightforward “in the bag.”
w środku torby emphasizes being inside the main compartment, not in a pocket or on the surface. It’s a bit more explicit.

Can I drop the container and just say Mój telefon jest w środku?

Yes. Mój telefon jest w środku means “My phone is inside,” with the place understood from context (e.g., inside the bag/box/house you’ve been talking about).

Why is it mój telefon and not moja or moje?

Because telefon is masculine. Possessive adjectives agree with the noun:

masculine: mój telefon
feminine: moja torba
neuter: moje auto
plural (non-masculine-personal): moje telefony

Should I use swój instead of mój here?

Not in this sentence. Swój refers back to the grammatical subject (“one’s own”). Here, the subject is telefon, so swój would wrongly refer to the phone’s own phone. Use mój. Compare:

Correct here: Mój telefon jest w środku torby.
If the subject is “I”: Mam swój telefon w torbie. (“I have my phone in my bag.”)

How flexible is the word order?

Polish allows some flexibility for emphasis:

Neutral: Mój telefon jest w środku torby.
Focus on location: W środku torby jest mój telefon. Both are natural. Avoid putting jest at the very end in neutral speech.

Can I omit jest?

Not in a full, neutral sentence. You can omit the subject pronoun, but not the verb:

Full: Mój telefon jest w środku torby.
Elliptical answer (in conversation): W środku torby. (as a short reply)
Also fine: Jest w środku torby. (“It’s inside the bag.”)

Polish has no articles—so how do I say “inside the bag” vs “inside a bag”?

Polish doesn’t mark this; context does. If you need to specify “this/that bag,” add a determiner:

w środku tej torby = “inside this bag”
w środku tamtej torby = “inside that bag”

Why is it w and not we (as in phrases like “we wtorek”)?

We is used before some difficult consonant clusters (often before initial w or f: we Wrocławiu, we Francji, we wtorek). Ś doesn’t cause that change, so it’s w środku, not “we środku.”

How do I pronounce the tricky letters?

w sounds like English “v.”
j sounds like English “y” in “yes.”
ó (in Mój) sounds like “oo” in “boot” (so mój ≈ “mooy”).
ś is a soft “sh” (tongue more forward).
Stress is normally on the second-to-last syllable: mój te-LE-fon jest w ŚROD-ku TOR-by.

Could I say Mój telefon znajduje się w środku torby?

Yes. Znajduje się means “is located.” It’s a bit more formal or descriptive than jest, but perfectly correct.

How would the sentence change in the plural?

Adjust the possessive, noun, and verb:

Moje telefony są w środku torby. (“My phones are inside the bag.”) If you mean each phone is in its own bag, you’d need more context or a different structure.

Is w środku one word or two? Any hyphen?

Two words, no hyphen: w środku.

Why not say na środku torby?

Na środku means “in the middle of (a surface/area),” e.g., na środku stołu (“in the middle of the table [surface]”). For being inside a container, use w środku.

Is torby here “bags” (plural) or “of the bag” (genitive singular)?

Here it’s genitive singular (“of the bag”). The form torby can also be nominative plural (“bags”), but the construction w środku [noun] requires genitive, so context and grammar disambiguate it. You can make it explicit with a determiner: w środku tej torby.

Can I say “mine” instead of repeating “phone”?

Yes. If “phone” is already understood:

Q: Gdzie jest twój telefon? (“Where is your phone?”)
A: Mój jest w środku torby. (“Mine is inside the bag.”)

What if I want to specify a purse or backpack?

Use a more specific noun and keep the same structure:

purse/handbag: Mój telefon jest w środku torebki.
backpack: Mój telefon jest w środku plecaka.
pocket of the bag: Mój telefon jest w kieszeni torby.

Could I just say Telefon mam w torbie?

Yes. That’s a common, natural alternative meaning “I have my phone in (my) bag.” It changes the focus (possession + location) and uses a different structure, but it’s idiomatic.