Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik.

After the shower I take a towel.

Breakdown of Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik.

• ja: I
• po: after
• prysznic: the shower
• brać: to take
• ręcznik: the towel

Questions & Answers about Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik.

Why is it po prysznicu and not po prysznic?

Because with the meaning after (something in time), the preposition po always takes the locative case.

• prysznic is the basic (dictionary) form.
• Its locative singular form is prysznicu.
• So po + prysznicu literally means after (the) shower.

If you use po with the accusative case, it has a different meaning: “for / in order to get”:

• Idę po ręcznik. – I’m going to get a towel.
• Idę po zakupy. – I’m going to do the shopping.

So:

• po prysznicu = after the shower (time)
• po ręcznik = (go) for a towel (to fetch it)

What case is prysznicu, and what does that ending show?

Prysznicu is in the locative singular case.

The locative in Polish:

• is almost always used after certain prepositions, such as po, w, na, przy, o (in specific meanings).
• answers questions like po czym? (after what?), w czym? (in what?).

For the noun prysznic:

• nominative (dictionary form): prysznic
• locative singular: prysznicu

So po prysznicu literally means after (in relation to) the shower, which we naturally translate as after the shower.

What tense/aspect is biorę, and how should I understand it?

Biorę is:

• 1st person singular (I)
• present tense
• imperfective aspect
• from the verb brać – to take.

Imperfective verbs in the present tense usually describe:

• ongoing actions:
  Teraz biorę ręcznik. – I’m taking the towel (right now).
• habitual / repeated actions:
  Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik. – After a shower I (normally/usually) take a towel.

Polish doesn’t distinguish between I take and I am taking in the verb form; biorę can mean either, depending on context.

What’s the difference between biorę and wezmę in this context?

Biorę and wezmę both come from the idea to take, but:

• biorę – from brać, imperfective, present tense.
• wezmę – from wziąć, perfective, future tense (1st person singular).

In this sentence:

• Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik.
  – After a shower I (generally) take a towel / This is what I (usually) do.

• Po prysznicu wezmę ręcznik.
  – After the shower I will take a towel (a specific future occasion, one-time action).

Key idea:

• biorę → focuses on the process / habit.
• wezmę → focuses on the single completed future action.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” in biorę ręcznik?

Polish does not have articles like English a / an / the.

• ręcznik can mean a towel, the towel, or just towel, depending on context.
• The listener uses context to decide which interpretation makes sense.

So Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik can be translated as:

• After a shower, I take a towel.
• After the shower, I take the towel.

All of these are possible translations of the same Polish sentence.

What case is ręcznik, and why does it look like the dictionary form?

Here ręcznik is the direct object of the verb biorę, so it is in the accusative case.

For masculine inanimate nouns like ręcznik, the accusative singular form is identical to the nominative singular:

• nominative: ręcznik (this is a towel)
• accusative: ręcznik (I take a towel)

So it looks like the dictionary form, but grammatically it’s accusative.

For comparison, with a masculine animate noun the accusative would look different:

• nominative: pies (dog)
• accusative: psa
  Mam psa. – I have a dog.

With ręcznik, you only know it’s accusative from its role in the sentence, not from its shape.

Can I change the word order, e.g. say Biorę ręcznik po prysznicu?

Yes, you can. Both are grammatically correct:

• Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik.
• Biorę ręcznik po prysznicu.

The difference is mostly about emphasis and flow:

• Starting with Po prysznicu makes the time frame the starting point:
  After the shower, I take a towel.
• Starting with Biorę ręcznik puts more focus on what you do, then adds when you do it:
  I take a towel after the shower.

In everyday speech, both orders sound natural here.

Do I need to say ja as in Ja po prysznicu biorę ręcznik?

You normally omit the subject pronoun ja in Polish, because the verb ending already shows the person:

• biorę already means I take.

You say Ja po prysznicu biorę ręcznik only for emphasis or contrast, for example:

• Ja po prysznicu biorę ręcznik, a on nie.
  I take a towel after a shower, but he doesn’t.

So the natural, neutral sentence is exactly the one you have:

• Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik.

How would I say “after a bath I take a towel”, and what changes in the grammar?

You would say:

• Po kąpieli biorę ręcznik. – After a bath I take a towel.

Here the noun changes:

• kąpiel (a bath) is feminine.
• Its locative singular is kąpieli (not kąpielu).

So you see the same pattern as with po prysznicu:

• po + locative → po kąpieli, po prysznicu.

How do I pronounce po prysznicu biorę ręcznik, especially sz, cz, and ę?

Approximate English-like pronunciation (very roughly) is:

• Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik → po prish-NEE-tsoo BYO-reh RENCH-neek.

Key sounds:

• sz in prysznicu – like sh in “ship”, but a bit harder and further back.
• cz in ręcznik – like ch in “church”.
• y in prysznicu – a hard i, somewhere between English i in sit and u in put.
• ę in ręcznik – before consonants it often sounds like en, so rę- ≈ ren (but with a bit of nasal quality).

You don’t need perfect IPA; if you say something close to:

• po prish-NEE-tsoo BYO-reh RENCH-neek

you will be understood.

What’s the difference between po prysznicu and pod prysznicem?

They refer to different times/situations:

• po prysznicu – after the shower (once you’re done):
  Po prysznicu biorę ręcznik. – After the shower I take a towel.

• pod prysznicem – under the shower / in the shower (while the water is running, you’re inside):
  Śpiewam pod prysznicem. – I sing in the shower.

Grammatically:

• po + locative → po prysznicu.
• pod + instrumental → pod prysznicem.