Learn Hardcore Polish: Ona woli serial niż film. - She prefers a TV series to a movie.

Polish has no articles (no direct equivalents of a/an/the).
Whether you mean a series, the series, series in general, etc. is understood from context, not from a separate word.

So:

Ona woli serial niż film.
can be translated as:
- She prefers a series to a film.
- She prefers the series to the film.
- She prefers series to films (in general) – if that fits the context.

Why is it serial and film, not seriale and filmy?

In Polish, you can express a general preference using either:

Singular (as in the example):
- Ona woli serial niż film.
  Literally: She prefers (the) series to (the) film.
  In practice, this often means a general preference (series vs films).
Plural, which makes the “in general” meaning even clearer:
- Ona woli seriale niż filmy.
  = She prefers TV series to films (in general).

Both are possible. With wolę / woli, singular is very common for generic comparisons, but using plurals (seriale, filmy) is perfectly correct and sometimes stylistically clearer.

What case are serial and film in, and why?

Both serial and film are in the accusative singular.

The verb woleć (to prefer) takes direct objects in the accusative:
- wolę kawę (I prefer coffee)
- wolę herbatę (I prefer tea)
- ona woli serial (she prefers a series)
In Polish, for masculine inanimate nouns like serial and film, the nominative and accusative forms are identical.
So they look like nominative, but their function here is accusative.

What does niż mean, and how is it used here?

Niż roughly corresponds to English “than” in comparative structures.

Structure in this sentence:

(Ona) woli X niż Y
She prefers X than Y → in natural English: She prefers X to Y.

So:

Ona woli serial niż film.
= She prefers a series to a film.

You commonly see niż after comparatives:

większy niż – bigger than
lepszy niż – better than

With woleć, niż is very standard and natural.

Can you use od instead of niż here? For example: Ona woli serial od filmu?

Yes, that is also possible:

Ona woli serial od filmu.
= She prefers a series to a film.

Differences:

niż
- same case as the first item:
  - wolę kawę niż herbatę
od
- genitive:
  - wolę kawę od herbaty

Both are used in speech.

niż tends to sound a bit more neutral / standard in this structure.
od is common and natural too; some speakers might feel it’s slightly more colloquial, but it’s widely accepted.

In short:

Ona woli serial niż film. – fully correct
Ona woli serial od filmu. – also correct

Why is the subject pronoun ona included? Can it be omitted?

Yes, it can be omitted. Polish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often left out because the verb ending shows the person.

So you can say:

Ona woli serial niż film. – She prefers a series to a film.
Woli serial niż film. – Prefers a series to a film. (The subject she is understood from context.)

You use the pronoun when:

you want to emphasize or contrast:
- Ona woli serial, a on woli film.
  = She prefers a series, and he prefers a film.
you are starting a new topic and want to be very clear who you’re talking about.

Is the word order fixed? Could you say Ona serial woli niż film or move words around?

Polish word order is fairly flexible, but not every permutation sounds natural.

Very natural options:

Ona woli serial niż film. – neutral.
Woli serial niż film. – neutral, without the pronoun.
Serial woli (ona) niż film. – possible, but sounds emphatic/marked, stressing serial. Usually you’d add contrast or context for it to sound natural.

Unnatural or wrong:

Ona serial woli niż film. – sounds off; not a typical word order.

In this simple sentence, the original order [subject] [verb] [object] [comparison] is the most natural and standard.

What’s the difference between woleć and lubić? Could I say Ona bardziej lubi serial niż film?

Yes, you can say that, but there is a nuance.

woleć = to prefer
- Ona woli serial niż film.
  = She prefers a series to a film.
lubić = to like
- Ona lubi serial.
  = She likes the series.

To express preference with lubić, you add bardziej (more):

Ona bardziej lubi serial niż film.
= She likes series more than films.
= She prefers series to films.

Difference in feel:

woleć is a direct verb of preference – short, strong, clear.
bardziej lubić literally describes liking something more, which results in a preference; it can sound slightly softer or more descriptive.

Both are correct and commonly used.

How would you say “She prefers TV series to movies in general” more explicitly?

You can make the “in general” idea clearer by using plurals:

Ona woli seriale niż filmy.
= She prefers TV series to movies (in general).

Or with od + genitive:

Ona woli seriale od filmów.

Or with bardziej lubić:

Ona bardziej lubi seriale niż filmy.
Ona bardziej lubi seriale od filmów.

What exactly does serial mean in Polish? Is it the same as English “series”?

Serial in Polish usually means a TV series / TV show with episodes and a storyline.

Typical examples:

serial kryminalny – crime series
serial komediowy – comedy series / sitcom

It’s not used for:

a book series → that would typically be seria książek
a film series (like a franchise) → often seria filmów

So serial ≈ TV series/TV show, not every type of “series” in English.

How do you pronounce the key words: woli, serial, niż, film?

Approximate pronunciations (using English-like spelling):

woli – VOH-lee
- w is like English v
- stress on the first syllable: WO-li
serial – SEH-ryal
- r is rolled or tapped
- stress on SE: SE-rial
niż – roughly neezh
- ni like nee
- ż = a voiced zh sound, like s in measure
film – close to English film, but with a clear, short i and a more “clean” l: feelm (one syllable).