Learn Hardcore Polish: Wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni. - In the evening I like to sing in the kitchen.

wieczór – nominative (dictionary form), used mainly as the subject or object:
- Ten wieczór jest zimny. – This evening is cold.
wieczorem – instrumental, very often used as an adverbial expression of time:
- Wieczorem czytam książki. – In the evening I read books.

Polish often uses the instrumental case to express “when” something happens (especially parts of the day):

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

So Wieczorem lubię śpiewać… literally is “In-the-evening I-like to-sing…”, and wieczorem is the natural, idiomatic form here. Using wieczór without a preposition in this position would be incorrect.

Could I say „Lubię śpiewać w kuchni wieczorem” instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, Lubię śpiewać w kuchni wieczorem is perfectly correct.

Polish word order is quite flexible. The basic information stays the same, but the focus shifts a bit:

Wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni.
– Slight emphasis on evenings as the time frame: As for evenings, I like singing in the kitchen (then).
Lubię śpiewać w kuchni wieczorem.
– Sounds more like a neutral statement listing what, where, when in a row.

Both are natural. In everyday speech, Lubię śpiewać w kuchni wieczorem might even feel slightly more neutral.

Why is there no „ja” for “I” in this sentence?

Polish usually drops subject pronouns (like I, you, he, she) because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

lubię – 1st person singular (I like)
lubisz – you like
lubi – he/she/it likes
lubimy – we like
lubicie – you (pl) like
lubią – they like

So Lubię śpiewać automatically means “I like to sing”, without needing ja.

You would add ja only for emphasis or contrast:

Ja lubię śpiewać, ale on nie. – I like to sing, but he doesn’t.

In your sentence, Ja wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni is grammatically correct but sounds more emphatic, like you’re stressing I.

Why is it lubię śpiewać and not lubię śpiewam?

After lubić (to like), Polish uses the infinitive (the dictionary form of the verb):

Lubię śpiewać. – I like to sing / I like singing.
Lubię czytać. – I like to read.
Lubię gotować. – I like to cook.

Using a finite verb form like śpiewam after lubię would be wrong:

✗ Lubię śpiewam – incorrect

So the pattern is:

lubię + [infinitive]
lubię śpiewać, lubię tańczyć, lubię pisać, etc.

What is the difference between lubię, kocham, and podoba mi się here?

They all express liking, but in different ways:

lubię – I like (general preference):
- Lubię śpiewać. – I like singing.
- Lubię kawę. – I like coffee.
kocham – I love (stronger feeling, emotional):
- Kocham śpiewać. – I love singing (very much).
podoba mi się – I like / I find … pleasing (usually about something you experience visually or as an impression):
- Podoba mi się ta piosenka. – I like this song.
- Podoba mi się, jak śpiewasz. – I like how you sing.

For hobbies and activities you enjoy, lubię + infinitive is the most standard:

Wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni. – In the evening I like to sing in the kitchen.

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

The phrase w kuchni uses the locative case of kuchnia (kitchen).

Declension of kuchnia (singular, main cases):

Nominative (dictionary form): kuchnia – the kitchen (as subject)
Accusative: kuchnię – the kitchen (as object)
Locative: kuchni – used mainly after certain prepositions, including w when it means “in” (location)

With w, you choose the case depending on meaning:

w kuchni – in the kitchen (location, static) → locative
w kuchnię – would suggest motion into the kitchen (accusative), but in practice you rarely say this; instead you say:
- Idę do kuchni. – I’m going to the kitchen.

Since the sentence describes where you sing (you’re already there, not moving), it must be the locative: w kuchni.

What case is kuchni, and when do I generally use it?

Kuchni is in the locative case (Polish: miejscownik).

You use the locative mainly:

After certain prepositions, especially:
- w – in
  - w kuchni – in the kitchen
  - w szkole – at school
- na – on / at
  - na stole – on the table
  - na ulicy – on the street
- o – about
  - mówię o kuchni – I’m talking about the kitchen
Often to indicate location or topic.

So w kuchni = “in the kitchen”, with kuchni in the locative after w.

Could I say „Na kuchni” instead of „w kuchni”?

No. Na kuchni is not used to mean “in the kitchen” in standard Polish.

w kuchni – correct for in the kitchen (inside the room)
na kuchni – would literally mean on the kitchen, which doesn’t make sense.

You do use na with some other locations:

na ulicy – on the street
na dworcu – at the station
na lotnisku – at the airport

But for rooms inside a building (kuchnia, łazienka, salon, sypialnia, pokój), you usually use w:

w kuchni, w łazience, w salonie, w pokoju, etc.

Can I say „Wieczorem lubię w kuchni śpiewać”? Does that sound natural?

Yes, Wieczorem lubię w kuchni śpiewać is grammatically correct and understandable.

Polish allows the infinitive phrase to move around in the sentence. However, this word order:

Wieczorem lubię w kuchni śpiewać.

has a slight emphasis on w kuchni and śpiewać as a unit, almost like:
In the evening I like to, in the kitchen, sing.

The most neutral versions are:

Wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni.
Lubię śpiewać w kuchni wieczorem.

Your version is fine, just a bit more stylized in rhythm and emphasis.

Do I need a preposition before wieczorem, like w wieczorze or na wieczorem?

No. When you say wieczorem to mean “in the evening”, you do not use a preposition.

You just use the instrumental form by itself:

Rano piję kawę. – In the morning I drink coffee.
Wieczorem lubię śpiewać. – In the evening I like to sing.
Nocą pracuje. – At night he works.

Forms like w wieczorze or na wieczorem are not used in this time expression.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” in this sentence?

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

So:

Wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni.

can mean:

In the evening I like to sing in *the kitchen.*
In the evening I like to sing in *a kitchen.*

The definiteness (whether it’s a or the) is understood from context, not from a specific word. In normal conversation, this sentence would usually mean “the kitchen” (your kitchen at home) because that’s the most logical interpretation.

Why is the verb śpiewać used, and not a perfective verb like zaśpiewać or pośpiewać?

Śpiewać is imperfective – it focuses on the activity itself, not on completing it. For habits and general likes/dislikes, Polish uses the imperfective:

Lubię śpiewać. – I (in general) like singing.
Lubię czytać. – I like reading.

Perfective forms like zaśpiewać, pośpiewać would sound strange here, because they refer to a single, completed event:

zaśpiewać – to sing once / to complete the singing
pośpiewać – to sing for a while

With lubię, you talk about what you enjoy as an ongoing activity, so śpiewać (imperfective) is the natural choice.

How do I pronounce wieczorem lubię śpiewać w kuchni? Anything tricky for English speakers?

Key points:

wieczorem – /vye-CHO-rem/
- w at the beginning is like English v.
- cz = ch in chocolate (but a bit harder).
- e – short like in met.
- Final -em – sounds like em.
lubię – roughly /LOO-byen/
- u – like oo in book (a bit longer).
- bię – the ę before consonants is often like en / em: byen. You don’t need to nasalize strongly.
śpiewać – /SHPYE-vatch/
- ś – soft sh, tongue more to the front.
- pie – pye.
- wać – vatch (short a).
w kuchni – /v KOOH-kh-nee/
- w before consonant is like a short v.
- ch – German Bach, Scottish loch sound.
- ni – soft ny, like ni in Spanish niño (but lighter).

Spoken smoothly, the sentence is something like:

[vye-CHO-rem LOO-byen SHPYE-vatch v KOOH-kh-nee]

Could I replace wieczorem with other time words the same way?

Yes. The structure stays the same; you just change the time expression:

Rano lubię śpiewać w kuchni. – In the morning I like to sing in the kitchen.
Po południu lubię śpiewać w kuchni. – In the afternoon I like to sing in the kitchen.
Nocą lubię śpiewać w kuchni. – At night I like to sing in the kitchen.

These time words go naturally at the beginning or at the end:

Rano lubię śpiewać w kuchni.
Lubię śpiewać w kuchni rano.

Both word orders are fine.