Learn Hardcore Polish: Córka lubi rysować koty, a syn woli malować samochody. - The daughter likes to draw cats, and the son prefers to paint cars.

Polish has no articles like English the or a/an. Nouns appear without them, and context tells you whether you mean a daughter, the daughter, my daughter, etc.

córka = daughter (here: the/a daughter depending on context)
syn = son (here: the/a son)

If you needed to be explicit, you could add a possessive:

Moja córka lubi rysować koty. – My daughter likes to draw cats.
Mój syn woli malować samochody. – My son prefers to paint cars.

Why are córka and syn in this form, not córkę or syna?

Córka and syn are the subjects of the sentence, so they are in the nominative case (the dictionary form of the noun):

nominative: córka, syn → used for the subject
accusative: córkę, syna → used mostly for direct objects

In this sentence, the direct objects are koty and samochody, not córka or syn. That’s why:

Córka (who?) lubi co? → rysować koty
Syn (who?) woli co? → malować samochody

Why is it lubi, not lubię or lubią?

Lubić (to like) is conjugated for the subject’s person and number.

Present tense of lubić (singular):

ja lubię – I like
ty lubisz – you (sg) like
on/ona/ono lubi – he/she/it likes

The subject here is córka (she), so we use lubi – 3rd person singular:

Córka lubi… – The daughter likes…

Why is lubi followed by rysować (infinitive)? Can we say lubi rysuje?

After lubić (to like), Polish normally uses an infinitive:

lubi rysować – likes to draw
lubi czytać – likes to read
lubi gotować – likes to cook

Lubi rysuje is incorrect. You should either say:

Córka lubi rysować. – The daughter likes to draw.
or (less common, slightly different nuance):
Córka lubi, kiedy rysuje koty. – She likes it when she draws cats.

What is the difference between rysować and malować?

Both can be translated as to draw / to paint, but there’s a typical distinction:

rysować – to draw with a pen, pencil, crayon, etc. (lines)
malować – to paint with paint, brush, roller, etc. (paints, colors)

So:

rysować koty – draw cats (with a pencil, crayons)
malować samochody – paint cars (with paints, maybe with a brush or spray)

Why is it koty, not kotów?

Koty is accusative plural of kot (cat) for non‑masculine‑personal nouns, and in this pattern:

nominative plural: koty
accusative plural: koty
genitive plural: kotów

You use accusative for direct objects of these verbs:

rysować koty – to draw cats → accusative plural
widzieć koty – to see cats → accusative plural

You’d use kotów (genitive plural) in other situations, for example:

Nie widzę kotów. – I don’t see (any) cats.
Dużo kotów. – many cats.

Why is it samochody, not samochodów?

The pattern is the same as with koty:

samochód – car (singular)
nominative plural: samochody
accusative plural: samochody
genitive plural: samochodów

Here, samochody is the direct object of malować, so we need accusative plural:

malować samochody – to paint cars → accusative plural

Samochodów would be used in genitive contexts:

Nie maluje samochodów. – He/She doesn’t paint cars.
Dużo samochodów. – many cars.

What does the conjunction a do here, and how is it different from i?

Polish has two common words often translated as and: i and a.

i – neutral and, just adding information:
- Mam psa i kota. – I have a dog and a cat.
a – and / but / whereas, often with a contrast or comparison between the two parts:
- Córka lubi rysować koty, a syn woli malować samochody.
  → suggests a contrast: The daughter likes drawing cats, whereas the son prefers painting cars.

You could use i here, but a sounds more natural because the sentence contrasts the preferences of the daughter and the son.

Why is there a comma before a?

In Polish, you almost always put a comma before a when it connects two clauses or two parts of a sentence that each have their own verb:

Córka lubi rysować koty, a syn woli malować samochody.
Idę do kina, a ona zostaje w domu.

So the comma is a matter of Polish punctuation rules, not optional style.

What verb is woli, and how is it conjugated?

Woli is 3rd person singular of woleć (to prefer).

Singular present tense:

ja wolę – I prefer
ty wolisz – you (sg) prefer
on/ona/ono woli – he/she/it prefers

So with syn (he) as subject, you need:

Syn woli… – The son prefers…

Can the word order be changed, for example: Syn woli malować samochody, a córka lubi rysować koty?

Yes, this is perfectly correct:

Syn woli malować samochody, a córka lubi rysować koty.

Polish word order is fairly flexible. The main constraints are:

the verb must still agree with the subject,
changing order mainly changes emphasis and focus, not basic grammar.

The original order starts with córka (daughter), so she’s in focus first. Your version starts with syn (son), shifting the focus to him.

Why are rysować and malować in the imperfective form, not narysować or pomalować?

In Polish, imperfective verbs are normally used for:

general preferences, habits, repeated actions.

So:

lubi rysować – (in general) likes to draw
woli malować – (in general) prefers to paint

Perfective forms (narysować, pomalować) would refer more to a single, completed action:

Córka narysowała kota. – The daughter drew (one) cat (finished).
Syn pomalował samochód. – The son painted the car (finished).

In a sentence about likes/preferences, you should use imperfective.

Could we say Córka lubi rysowanie kotów instead of lubi rysować koty?

You can, but it sounds more formal or abstract. The nuance:

lubi rysować koty – natural, everyday way: she likes to draw cats.
lubi rysowanie kotów – she likes the act/activity of drawing cats (more nominal, less direct, more bookish or technical).

In spoken language and normal writing, lubi rysować koty is much more common and natural.

Do córka and syn affect the form of the verbs? Do we change the verb because of gender?

In the present tense, verbs don’t change form for grammatical gender, only for person and number.

So for singular 3rd person:

on lubi, ona lubi, ono lubi – he/she/it likes
on woli, ona woli, ono woli – he/she/it prefers

That’s why:

Córka lubi… (she) → lubi
Syn woli… (he) → woli

Gender will matter more in past tense:

Córka lubiła… – the daughter liked… (feminine)
Syn wolił → actually wolał… – the son preferred… (masculine)