Learn Hardcore Polish: Zmywarka stoi w kuchni, ale dziś myję talerze sam. - The dishwasher stands in the kitchen, but today I am washing the plates myself.

So Zmywarka stoi w kuchni literally means “The dishwasher stands in the kitchen,” but the natural English equivalent is “The dishwasher is in the kitchen.”

You could say Zmywarka jest w kuchni, and it’s correct, but it sounds a bit more neutral and less descriptive. Stoi suggests it’s a standing appliance, in its usual, upright position.

Why is it w kuchni and not something like w kuchnia or w kuchnię?

Kuchnia (“kitchen”) is in the locative case here.

The preposition w (“in”) takes:
- locative for location: w kuchni – “in the kitchen”
- accusative for movement into somewhere: w kuchnię – “(into) the kitchen” (used with verbs of motion)

Base form: kuchnia (nominative singular)
Locative singular: kuchni

Because the dishwasher is located in the kitchen, not moving into it, we use w kuchni.

Why is there a comma before ale?

Polish punctuation rules require a comma before ale when it joins two clauses.

In the sentence:

Zmywarka stoi w kuchni, ale dziś myję talerze sam.

we have two clauses:

Zmywarka stoi w kuchni
dziś myję talerze sam

They’re joined by ale (“but”), so we must use a comma: ..., ale ....
In Polish, you virtually always put a comma before ale in this role; leaving it out would be considered a mistake in standard writing.

Why is there no ja (“I”) in dziś myję talerze sam?

Polish is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (like ja, “I”) are usually omitted because the verb ending shows the person.

myję ends in -ę, which clearly marks 1st person singular (“I wash”).

So Dziś myję talerze sam is normally preferred over Dziś ja myję talerze sam.
You only add ja for emphasis or contrast, e.g.:

Dziś ja myję talerze, nie ty. – “Today I am washing the plates, not you.”

What’s the difference between dziś and dzisiaj?

Dziś and dzisiaj both mean “today” and are interchangeable in most contexts.

dziś – a bit shorter, often slightly more colloquial or poetic
dzisiaj – fully standard, slightly more neutral

You can say either:

Dziś myję talerze sam.
Dzisiaj myję talerze sam.

Both are correct and natural.

Why is talerze used here, and not talerz or talerzy?

The base form is:

talerz – “plate” (nominative singular)

The plural forms you’re seeing:

talerze – nominative and accusative plural
talerzy – genitive plural

In myję talerze, talerze is the direct object of the verb myć, so it must be in the accusative plural. For this noun, accusative plural = nominative plural: talerze.

You’d use talerzy in contexts that need the genitive, e.g.:

nie mam talerzy – “I don’t have (any) plates.”

Why is it sam, not sama, samo, or sami?

Sam is an adjective/pronoun meaning “alone / by myself / myself”. It must agree in gender and number with the subject:

sam – masculine singular
sama – feminine singular
samo – neuter singular
sami – masculine personal plural
same – non‑masculine‑personal plural (groups of only women, things, etc.)

In the sentence, the implied subject is ja (“I”), and the speaker is assumed to be male, so we use sam:

Male speaker: Dziś myję talerze sam.
Female speaker: Dziś myję talerze sama.

If a group of (at least one) men was speaking: Dziś myjemy talerze sami.

What’s the difference between myję and myje?

Both come from the verb myć (“to wash”), but they’re different persons:

myję – 1st person singular: ja myję – “I wash”
myje – 3rd person singular: on/ona/ono myje – “he/she/it washes”

The ę ending is a key marker of “I” (ja) in many Polish verbs.
So in this sentence, myję must be written with ę, not e, because the subject is “I”.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Ale dziś sam myję talerze or Dziś sam myję talerze?

Yes, Polish word order is relatively flexible, and all of these are possible:

Ale dziś myję talerze sam. – fairly neutral; sam at the end has a slight emphasis.
Ale dziś sam myję talerze. – stronger emphasis on sam: “But today I myself am washing the plates.”
Dziś sam myję talerze. – without ale, simply: “Today I’m washing the plates myself.”

Changing the position of sam changes what feels emphasized, but doesn’t make the sentence incorrect. The version in your sentence suggests a bit of contrast: there is a dishwasher, but today the speaker is washing the plates himself.

How would the meaning change if we said Dziś umyję talerze sam instead of Dziś myję talerze sam?

This is about aspect (imperfective vs perfective):

myć → myję – imperfective: focuses on the process or a general action
- Dziś myję talerze sam. – “Today I’m (the one) washing the plates myself.” (ongoing / as an activity today)
umyć → umyję – perfective: focuses on completion/result
- Dziś umyję talerze sam. – “Today I will wash (and get done with) the plates myself.”

So myję sounds like describing what’s happening today as an activity, while umyję sounds more like a promise/intention to get the plates washed to completion.