On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.

He rarely strolls around the city because he usually drives everywhere by car.

Breakdown of On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.

• on: he
• samochód: the car
• bo: because
• zwykle: usually
• miasto: the city
• spacerować: to stroll
• po: around
• rzadko: rarely
• jeździć: to drive
• wszędzie: everywhere

Questions & Answers about On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.

Why does the sentence start with “On”? Isn’t the pronoun optional in Polish since the verb already shows the person?

Yes, the subject pronoun “on” (he) is optional in Polish, because the verb form “spaceruje” already shows it’s 3rd person singular.

• Grammatically correct options:
  • On rzadko spaceruje po mieście… – He rarely walks around the city…
  • Rzadko spaceruje po mieście… – (He) rarely walks around the city…

Using “on”:

• adds a bit of emphasis on he (as opposed to someone else),
• can make the sentence sound slightly clearer if the context is not obvious,
• is often used in written examples and textbooks for learners.

In everyday speech, if it’s clear who you’re talking about, people often drop the pronoun and just say:

• Rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.

Why is it “rzadko spaceruje” and not “spaceruje rzadko”? Is the word order fixed?

Both are possible:

• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście…
• On spaceruje rzadko po mieście…

They are both grammatically correct. The difference is in focus and naturalness:

• The most typical, neutral order puts the adverb of frequency (rzadko, często, zwykle, nigdy) before the verb:

  • On rzadko spaceruje.
  • Ona często czyta.
  • Zwykle wstaję wcześnie.

• Putting the adverb after the verb sounds more marked or emphatic, or sometimes a bit stylistic:

  • On spaceruje rzadko. – sounds like you’re stressing how rarely he does it.

For everyday speech, “On rzadko spaceruje…” is the most natural.

What’s the exact nuance of “spaceruje”? Does it just mean “walks”?

“Spaceruje” comes from “spacerować”, which means “to go for a walk / stroll”, usually for leisure, not because you need to get somewhere quickly.

So:

• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście.
  = He rarely takes walks / strolls around the city.

Compare:

• iść / chodzić – to go (on foot), to walk (as a way of moving somewhere)
• spacerować – to stroll, to walk for pleasure (like taking a walk in the park)

If you said:

• On rzadko chodzi po mieście. – He rarely walks around the city.
  This is similar, but slightly more neutral about why he walks.
• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście. – more clearly suggests “for walks / strolling”.

Why is it “po mieście” and not “w mieście”? What’s the difference?

Both prepositions exist, but they have different meanings:

• po + locative (po mieście)
  Suggests movement around / across / about a space, often not toward a specific goal, more like wandering / strolling all around.

  • spacerować po mieście – to walk around the city
  • chodzić po parku – to walk around the park

• w + locative (w mieście)
  Means simply in the city, focusing on location, not movement across it.

  • Mieszkam w mieście. – I live in the city.
  • Pracuje w mieście. – He works in the city.

So:

• spaceruje po mieście = he walks around the city (through different streets/areas)
• spaceruje w mieście would sound odd; if used, it would simply mean “he walks in the city (as opposed to in the countryside)”, not the natural phrase for “around town”.

What case is “mieście” and why is it in that form?

“Mieście” is the locative case singular of “miasto” (city).

• Nominative: miasto – a city
• Locative: (o) mieście, w mieście, po mieście

The locative is used:

• mainly after certain prepositions, such as w, na, po, o:
  • w mieście – in the city
  • po mieście – around the city
  • o mieście – about the city

So in “spaceruje po mieście”, the preposition “po” requires the locative, which is “mieście”.

Why is “bo” used here? Could we say “ponieważ” or “dlatego że” instead?

Yes, you can replace “bo” with “ponieważ” or “dlatego że”, but they differ in style:

• bo – very common, informal / neutral, used all the time in spoken Polish
• ponieważ – more formal / written; also fine in speech, just a bit “bookish”
• dlatego że – also more formal, and often used when you want to emphasize the cause

All three would be understood:

• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.
• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, ponieważ zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.
• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, dlatego że zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.

In everyday conversation, “bo” is the most natural choice.

Why is it “jeździ” and not “jedzie”? What’s the difference?

Polish has two main verb stems for “go by vehicle”:

• jechać (imperfective, one direction, single trip in progress)
• jeździć (imperfective, habitual / repeated movement, or movement in various directions)

In the 3rd person singular:

• on jedzie – he is going (right now), on one specific trip, in one direction
• on jeździ – he usually/regularly goes (by vehicle); describes a habit

The sentence describes a habitual action:

he usually drives everywhere

So Polish uses:

• On rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem.

If you said:

• …bo jedzie wszędzie samochodem.
  it would sound like you’re describing this one time, right now:
  “… because (right now) he is going everywhere by car”, which doesn’t really fit with “rzadko” and “zwykle”.

What case is “samochodem” and why is it used for “by car”?

“Samochodem” is instrumental case singular of “samochód” (car).

• Nominative: samochód – car
• Instrumental: (z) samochodem, samochodem

The instrumental is used, among other things, to express means of transport:

• jechać samochodem – to go by car
• lecieć samolotem – to fly by plane
• płynąć statkiem – to go by ship
• jeździć autobusem – to go by bus

So:

• …jeździ wszędzie samochodem.
  = he goes/drive everywhere by car.

There is no preposition (“by”) in Polish here; the case ending (-em) on samochodem carries that meaning.

Why is it “wszędzie samochodem” and not something with a preposition like “do wszędzie”?

“Wszędzie” means “everywhere” and does not take a preposition in this usage.

• wszędzie = to/at/in all places (depending on the verb)
  • Jadę wszędzie samochodem. – I go everywhere by car.
  • Szukam go wszędzie. – I’m looking for him everywhere.
  • Jest bałagan wszędzie. – There’s a mess everywhere.

You cannot say “do wszędzie” in standard Polish. Instead:

• just use wszędzie on its own
• and use case or other words (like the instrumental “samochodem”) to add meaning.

In the sentence:

• jeździ wszędzie samochodem
  = he goes everywhere by car

Can the word order in the second part change? For example, can we say “bo wszędzie zwykle jeździ samochodem”?

Yes, Polish word order is relatively flexible, especially with adverbs like “zwykle” and “wszędzie”. These are all grammatically possible:

• bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem – neutral, very natural
• bo zwykle wszędzie jeździ samochodem – also fine; emphasis a bit more on everywhere
• bo wszędzie zwykle jeździ samochodem – possible; a little more marked in rhythm/emphasis

What generally stays together is:

• jeździ samochodem – “goes by car”

You normally wouldn’t separate “jeździ” and “samochodem” with a long phrase in between, e.g.:

• ✗ bo jeździ samochodem zwykle wszędzie – grammatically possible but feels awkward and unnatural.

So, the original:

• bo zwykle jeździ wszędzie samochodem
  puts “zwykle” (usually) near the verb and keeps “jeździ samochodem” close together, which sounds very natural.

Could we say this in a different, but still natural way in Polish?

Yes, here are some natural variations with slightly different nuances but the same basic idea:

1. On rzadko chodzi po mieście, bo zazwyczaj wszędzie jeździ samochodem.

   • chodzi instead of spaceruje (more neutral “walks around”)
   • zazwyczaj instead of zwykle (synonym: “usually”)

2. Rzadko spaceruje po mieście, bo prawie zawsze jeździ samochodem.

   • prawie zawsze = almost always

3. On prawie w ogóle nie spaceruje po mieście, bo wszędzie jeździ samochodem.

   • prawie w ogóle nie = hardly at all, almost never

All of these are natural and keep the same core meaning:
He doesn’t walk around town much because he tends to go everywhere by car.