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Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.

Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.
In the evening I am writing a long email to a friend from Spain.
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Questions & Answers about Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.

Why is it Wieczorem and not something like w wieczór or w wieczorze?

Wieczorem is the usual way to say “in the evening” in Polish. It is the instrumental form of wieczór (“evening”), used adverbially.

For times of day, Polish often uses a bare case form (usually instrumental) instead of a preposition:

  • rano – in the morning
  • po południu – in the afternoon
  • wieczorem – in the evening
  • nocą – at night

You do not say w wieczór or w wieczorze in this meaning. The natural form is simply Wieczorem.

Word order is flexible, so you could also say:

  • Piszę wieczorem długi mail… – same meaning, just different emphasis.
Does Wieczorem piszę… mean “This evening I’m going to write…” or “In the evenings I (generally) write…”?

It can mean either, depending on context and intonation:

  1. Habitual action (present simple):

    • Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.
      → “In the evening I (usually) write a long email to a friend from Spain.”

  2. Planned near future (present used for future):

    • Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.
      → “This evening I’m writing a long email to a friend from Spain.”

Polish present tense of an imperfective verb (pisać) can refer to:

  • something happening now,
  • something that happens regularly,
  • or a planned future action.

Context normally clarifies which one is intended.

What’s the difference between piszę and napiszę?

The difference is aspect:

  • piszę – from pisać (imperfective)

    • focuses on the process or ongoing / repeated action: “I am writing / I write.”
    • Used in the sentence: Wieczorem piszę długi mail…

  • napiszę – from napisać (perfective)

    • focuses on the completed result: “I will write (and finish) / I will have written.”
    • E.g. Wieczorem napiszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.
      → “In the evening I will write (and finish) a long email to a friend from Spain.”

So:

  • Use piszę if you care about the activity of writing.
  • Use napiszę if you care about the completion of the email.
Why is it długi mail and not długa mail?

Because mail is grammatically masculine in Polish.

  • mail – masculine inanimate noun
  • The adjective must agree in gender, number, and case, so it takes the masculine singular form długi.

Compare:

  • długi mail – a long email (masculine)
  • długa książka – a long book (feminine)
  • długie zadanie – a long task (neuter)

In the accusative (object) position, for masculine inanimate nouns, the form is the same as the nominative:

  • nominative: długi mail
  • accusative: długi mail
Why does przyjaciela end in -a if it’s a male friend?

Przyjaciela is the genitive singular form of przyjaciel (“friend”), and it’s used here because of the preposition do.

  • nominative (dictionary form): przyjaciel – a friend
  • genitive: przyjaciela – (of) a friend

In Polish, masculine animate nouns often have -a in both the genitive and the accusative:

  • Widzę przyjaciela. – I see (my) friend. (accusative)
  • Nie ma przyjaciela. – There is no friend. (genitive)

Here we have the preposition do (“to”), which always takes the genitive:

  • do kogo? – to whom? → do przyjaciela
  • do czego? – to what?

So the -a ending is a case marker, not a gender marker.

Why is the preposition do used with przyjaciela, and not something like dla or just przyjacielowi?

The choice of preposition changes the meaning:

  • do przyjaciela – literally “to (my) friend”

    • Used when something moves or is sent to someone:
      • pisać do kogoś – to write to someone
      • dzwonić do kogoś – to call someone (on the phone)

  • dla przyjaciela – “for (my) friend”

    • Emphasizes doing something for the benefit of a friend, not “to” them:
      • Kupiłem prezent dla przyjaciela. – I bought a present for my friend.

  • przyjacielowi – dative form of przyjaciel (“to/for a friend”), without any preposition:

    • You might see that after verbs that take a dative object directly, e.g.:
      • Pomagam przyjacielowi. – I’m helping (my) friend.

But with the verb pisać in the sense “write to someone”, Polish idiomatically uses pisać do kogoś, so do przyjaciela is the natural choice.

What does z Hiszpanii literally mean, and why is Hiszpanii and not Hiszpania?

z Hiszpanii literally means “from Spain”.

  • nominative (name of the country): Hiszpania – Spain
  • genitive: Hiszpanii – of/from Spain

The preposition z (“from”) here requires the genitive:

  • z kogo? z czego? → z Hiszpanii

So:

  • przyjaciel z Hiszpanii – a friend from Spain

Meaning-wise, that usually implies:

  • a friend who comes from Spain (by origin or nationality), or
  • a friend who lives in Spain – context decides.

You must say z Hiszpanii, not z Hiszpania, in this structure.

What’s the difference between przyjaciel z Hiszpanii and hiszpański przyjaciel?

Subtle, but useful:

  • przyjaciel z Hiszpanii – a friend from Spain

    • Very neutral. Just says that the friend is connected with Spain (by origin, residence, etc.).

  • hiszpański przyjaciel – a Spanish friend

    • Uses the adjective hiszpański (Spanish).
    • Usually implies nationality or cultural identity more explicitly.

In many contexts they overlap, but:

  • If the person is Polish but lives in Spain, you’d more naturally say:
    • przyjaciel z Hiszpanii
  • If you want to stress that he is Spanish, you might prefer:
    • hiszpański przyjaciel
Why is there no word for “a” or “the” in długi mail or przyjaciela?

Polish has no articles (no equivalents of a/an/the).

Whether you mean:

  • “a long email”
  • “the long email”

is inferred from context, word order, and stress, not from a separate word.

So długi mail can be:

  • “a long email” (new information, not yet known to the listener), or
  • “the long email” (already known in the conversation).

Similarly, przyjaciela just means “(a/the) friend” in the genitive; Polish does not enforce the English distinction with articles.

Is the word mail really used in Polish, or is there a different word for “email”?

Yes, mail is common in modern Polish and usually means “email”:

  • mail / e‑mail – standard spelling
  • mejl – a phonetic, informal spelling you might see online

You’ll also see:

  • wiadomość e‑mail – email message
  • napisać maila / dostać maila – write/get an email (note the colloquial accusative maila)

In your sentence, długi mail is perfectly natural and widely understood as “a long email.”

Can the word order in the sentence change, for example Piszę wieczorem długi mail…? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order; Polish is fairly flexible:

  • Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.
  • Piszę wieczorem długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.
  • Piszę długi mail wieczorem do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii.

All are grammatically correct and mean essentially the same. Differences are about emphasis and rhythm, not basic meaning.

Some tendencies:

  • Putting Wieczorem at the very beginning emphasizes when:

    • It’s in the evening that I (will) write a long email…

  • Keeping piszę relatively early keeps the focus on what I do:

    • Piszę wieczorem długi mail… – I write (it) in the evening…

For a learner, your original word order is very natural and neutral.

How do you pronounce Wieczorem piszę długi mail do przyjaciela z Hiszpanii?

A rough phonetic guide (not strict IPA, but close enough for an English speaker):

  • Wieczorem – vye-CHO-rem
  • piszę – PEE-sheh
  • długi – DWOO-gee (the ł is like English “w”)
  • mail – like English mail
  • do – doh
  • przyjaciela – pshih-ya-TSYE-la
  • z – z (like English “z”)
  • Hiszpanii – hee-SHPA-nee

Said smoothly:

vye-CHO-rem PEE-sheh DWOO-gee mail doh pshih-ya-TSYE-la z hee-SHPA-nee

What are the full present-tense forms of pisać (“to write”)?

Pisać is imperfective. Present tense:

  • ja piszę – I write / I am writing
  • ty piszesz – you write (sg., informal)
  • on/ona/ono pisze – he/she/it writes
  • my piszemy – we write
  • wy piszecie – you write (pl.)
  • oni/one piszą – they write

In your sentence, piszę is 1st person singular: “I write / I am writing.”