Learn Hardcore Polish: Proszę dokładnie sprawdzić adres na tej karcie. - Please check the address on this card carefully.

Proszę is literally “I request,” but in modern Polish it’s a fixed polite formula used to make requests when followed by an infinitive: Proszę + infinitive. In this sentence it functions like a courteous “please,” roughly equivalent to “Please (would you) …”.

Who is being addressed if there’s no “you” in the sentence?

Polish often leaves the addressee implicit. With Proszę + infinitive, the person you’re speaking to is understood—typically a politely addressed Pan (sir) or Pani (madam). If you want to make it explicit, you can say Proszę Pana/Panią, … or use Niech Pan/Pani … plus a verb.

How would I say this informally or to more than one person?

Informal singular (to a friend): Sprawdź dokładnie adres na tej karcie.
Informal plural (to several friends): Sprawdźcie dokładnie adres na tej karcie.
Formal to one man/woman: Niech Pan/Pani dokładnie sprawdzi adres na tej karcie.
Formal to a group: Niech Państwo dokładnie sprawdzą adres na tej karcie.

Why is it sprawdzić and not sprawdzać?

Sprawdzić is perfective: a single, complete act of checking. Requests for one-off, result-oriented actions usually use the perfective. Sprawdzać is imperfective (an ongoing or repeated process) and would sound like asking someone to be in the habit of checking.

Could I say Proszę sprawdzać dokładnie adres…? What would that mean?

Yes, but it changes the meaning to a general or repeated instruction: “Please make a habit of checking the address carefully (each time).” It’s fine in guidelines or training, less so for a single, immediate request.

What case is adres in, and why doesn’t it change?

Adres is a direct object, so it’s in the accusative. For masculine inanimate nouns like adres, the accusative form is identical to the nominative, so it looks unchanged.

Why is it na tej karcie and not na tę/tą kartę?

Na + locative expresses location (“on/in/at” a place), so you need the locative: na tej karcie. Na + accusative expresses direction or movement onto a surface, e.g., na tę kartę = “onto this card.” In this sentence we’re talking about where the address is (location), not movement.

What exactly is tej? I thought “this” for feminine was ta.

They’re different cases of the same demonstrative:

Nominative (this, subject): ta
Accusative (object, standard): tę (colloquial speech often uses tą)
Locative (after prepositions of location like na, w): tej
Here we need the locative after na, so it’s tej.

Is karcie the same word as kartce? And what’s the difference between karta and kartka?

Karta = card (ID card, payment card, form card, or even a browser tab). Locative: na karcie.
Kartka = a (small) sheet/piece of paper, a note. Locative: na kartce.
Your sentence refers to a card-like item, so na tej karcie is correct.

Can I move dokładnie around, or must it stay before the verb?

Polish word order is flexible. All of these are natural, with subtle shifts in emphasis:

Proszę dokładnie sprawdzić adres na tej karcie. (neutral)
Proszę sprawdzić dokładnie adres na tej karcie. (similar, light emphasis on how)
Proszę sprawdzić adres na tej karcie dokładnie. (possible, puts the adverb at the end for emphasis) The first two are the most common.

Is dokładnie the same as uważnie?

Not quite. Dokładnie = thoroughly, precisely (completeness/precision). Uważnie = carefully, attentively (paying attention). You might choose uważnie for careful reading and dokładnie for meticulous verification.

Could I rephrase it with Proszę o…?

Yes, a more formal/written variant is: Proszę o dokładne sprawdzenie adresu na tej karcie. Here o + accusative governs the verbal noun sprawdzenie, and adresu is in the genitive as the complement of sprawdzenie.

Is the sentence already polite enough? How could I soften it further?

It’s politely neutral. To soften, add a conditional request:

Czy mógłby Pan/mogłaby Pani dokładnie sprawdzić adres na tej karcie?
You can also intensify the politeness/urgency with Bardzo proszę…, though that can sound more insistent.

Any pronunciation tips for tricky parts?

Proszę: final ę is lightly nasal, often realized close to “e” in casual speech; sz is a retroflex “sh.”
Dokładnie: ł sounds like English “w” (do-KWAD-nyeh).
Sprawdzić: w = “v”; dzi before ć is a soft “j” sound; roughly “SPRAHV-jitch.”
Stress is on the penultimate syllable in each word.