Breakdown of Wieczorem wolę książkę niż telewizję.
Questions & Answers about Wieczorem wolę książkę niż telewizję.
Polish often expresses “in/at [time of day]” just by using a noun in a particular case, without any preposition:
- rano – in the morning
- po południu – in the afternoon
- wieczorem – in the evening
- w nocy – at night (this one keeps the preposition w)
So wieczorem by itself already means “in the evening”. Adding w (w wieczorem) would be incorrect.
Wieczorem is the instrumental singular of wieczór (evening).
Polish often uses the instrumental to express time when something happens. In this adverbial use, wieczorem means “in the evening” and functions like an adverb:
- Rano piję kawę. – I drink coffee in the morning.
- Wieczorem wolę książkę. – In the evening I prefer a book.
You will see many time expressions either in the instrumental (like wieczorem) or in forms that have become fixed adverbs (like rano).
Yes, both are correct, but they differ slightly in meaning:
Wieczorem wolę książkę niż telewizję.
→ This refers to one general evening (or a typical evening), “In the evening I prefer a book to TV.”Wieczorami wolę książkę niż telewizję.
→ This emphasizes repeated evenings, “In the evenings / in the evenings in general I prefer a book to TV.”
So wieczorem is more about a single time frame (“in the evening”), while wieczorami suggests a habit over many evenings (“in the evenings”).
Polish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often left out because the verb ending already shows the person and number.
- wolę – 1st person singular (I prefer)
- wolisz – you (sg) prefer
- woli – he/she/it prefers
- wolimy – we prefer
- wolicie – you (pl) prefer
- wolą – they prefer
So wolę by itself already tells us the subject is “I”. Adding ja (Ja wieczorem wolę książkę…) is possible, but usually only for emphasis or contrast: Ja wieczorem wolę książkę, a on telewizję.
All three are related but not identical:
wolę (from woleć) – I prefer (choose one thing over another):
- Wieczorem wolę książkę niż telewizję. – In the evening I prefer a book to TV.
lubię (from lubić) – I like:
- Lubię książki. – I like books.
preferuję (from preferować) – also I prefer, but it sounds a bit more formal/foreign; often used in more official or technical contexts.
In natural everyday speech, woleć is the most typical verb for “prefer X to Y” in a simple comparison.
Książkę is the accusative singular of książka (book).
In this sentence, książkę is the direct object of the verb wolę (“I prefer what?” → a book). Feminine nouns ending in -a usually change to -ę in the accusative singular:
- kawa → kawę (coffee)
- herbata → herbatę (tea)
- książka → książkę (book)
So the form książkę is required because of its grammatical role (direct object) in the sentence.
Telewizję is also accusative singular, from telewizja.
Feminine nouns ending in -ja typically change to -ję in the accusative singular (spelled -ię, pronounced -jẽ):
- telewizja → telewizję
- kolacja → kolację (dinner)
- akcja → akcję (action)
Since telewizja is also a direct object of wolę (in comparison with książkę), it must be in the accusative: telewizję.
telewizja – the medium / service / content (“television” as what you watch)
- Wieczorem oglądam telewizję. – I watch TV (programs) in the evening.
telewizor – the physical device, the TV set
- Mam nowy telewizor. – I have a new TV set.
In your sentence, we are comparing a book with television as a medium, so telewizję is appropriate.
If you wanted to say “I prefer a book to a TV set”, you would use telewizor (accusative: telewizor):
- Wolę książkę niż telewizor.
Yes, that’s also correct, but there are some nuances:
Wolę książkę niż telewizję.
→ Both items in the same case (accusative). Very common in speech and writing.Wolę książkę od telewizji.
→ After od, Polish normally uses the genitive: telewizji.
→ Feels a bit more formal / stylistic, and some speakers prefer od in such “rather than” comparisons.
In everyday conversation, wolę książkę niż telewizję is perfectly natural and very common.
Polish word order is relatively flexible, especially in simple sentences like this. All of these are grammatically correct, with slightly different emphasis:
Wieczorem wolę książkę niż telewizję.
– Neutral, standard.Wolę wieczorem książkę niż telewizję.
– Slight focus on wolę (I prefer), and it sounds a bit more “spoken”.Książkę wolę wieczorem niż telewizję.
– Strong emphasis on książkę (It’s the book that I prefer…).
The most natural and neutral version, though, is exactly the one you have:
Wieczorem wolę książkę niż telewizję.
You can expand the sentence with verbs:
- Wieczorem wolę czytać książki niż oglądać telewizję.
Breakdown:
- czytać – to read
- książki – books (accusative plural)
- oglądać – to watch
- telewizję – television (accusative singular)
So literally: “In the evening I prefer to read books rather than watch television.”
Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):
wolę – VO-weh
- w like English v
- ł like English w
- ę at the end: nasal eh, often close to -e in everyday speech.
książkę – roughly KSYONSH-keh
- ksi like ksh
- soft i coloring → something like ksh-
- ą – nasal o, like French on in bon, but a bit lighter
- ż – like zh in English vision
- kę – keh with a light hint of nasalization on e.
- ksi like ksh
niż – neezh
- ń/ni is a soft n, like ny in canyon
- ż again like zh.
telewizję – te-le-VEE-zyeh (with a light nasal eh at the end)
- w pronounced like v
- zi gives a sound close to zh or soft z
- final -ę is a slightly nasal eh, often close to -e in casual speech.
Native speakers often pronounce final -ę almost like a simple -e, so wolę and telewizję may sound like wole, telewizje, but spelled with ę.