Learn Hardcore Polish: Po pierwszej piosence słychać głośne oklaski z całej sali. - After the first song loud applause can be heard from the whole hall.

The “dictionary” form pierwsza piosenka is nominative (the basic subject form).
After po, both the adjective and the noun must switch to locative:

pierwsza piosenka (nom.) → po pierwszej piosence (loc.)

So:

po
- nominative → ❌ po pierwsza piosenka (incorrect)
po
- locative → ✅ po pierwszej piosence (correct)

What case are pierwszej and piosence, and how are they formed?

Both pierwszej and piosence are in the feminine singular locative.

Base (nominative) forms:

pierwsza – “first” (feminine)
piosenka – “song” (feminine)

Locative singular (after po):

pierwsza → pierwszej
piosenka → piosence

Common feminine locative singular endings you see here:

adjective: -a → -ej (pierwsza → pierwszej)
noun: -ka → -ce (piosenka → piosence)

So po pierwszej piosence literally is “after (the) first song,” with both words correctly in the locative.

What exactly is słychać? Is it a verb? Why doesn’t it change like słyszę, słyszysz etc.?

Yes, słychać is related to the verb słyszeć (“to hear”), but here it appears in a special impersonal form.

słyszeć (infinitive) → personal forms: słyszę, słyszysz, słyszy…
słychać – an impersonal construction meaning roughly “can be heard / is audible.”

In Po pierwszej piosence słychać głośne oklaski:

there is no grammatical subject (“who/what hears?” is not expressed)
słychać stays the same for all persons and numbers; you don’t say ja słychać, oni słychać, etc.

You can think of słychać as something like “there is the sound of…” or “one can hear…”. It is not conjugated like a normal personal verb in this sentence type.

Could I say słyszymy głośne oklaski instead of słychać głośne oklaski? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say that, but the meaning is slightly different:

Po pierwszej piosence słychać głośne oklaski.
– Impersonal, neutral: “Loud applause can be heard after the first song.”
– Focuses on the sound itself, not on who hears it.
Po pierwszej piosence słyszymy głośne oklaski.
– Personal: “After the first song we hear loud applause.”
– Emphasizes our experience (the subject my / “we”).

Both are correct, but the original sentence is more descriptive, like a narrator’s neutral observation.

Why is it głośne oklaski, not głośny oklaski or głośna oklaski?

Because oklaski (“applause, clapping”) is a plural-only noun, and the adjective must agree with it in number and gender group.

oklaski – plural, non-masculine-personal
The matching adjective form is głośne (non-masculine-personal plural nominative/accusative).

So:

❌ głośny oklaski – wrong (adjective is singular, noun is plural)
❌ głośna oklaski – wrong (still singular)
✅ głośne oklaski – correct (plural, agreeing with oklaski)

Other correct combinations you might see:

gromkie oklaski – thunderous applause
długie oklaski – long applause

Can oklaski be singular, like oklask?

In normal usage, oklaski is treated as plural-only (pluralia tantum) and means “applause, clapping” as a collective sound.

You almost always use it only in plural: oklaski (nom.), oklasków (gen.), etc.
The singular oklask exists but is uncommon and tends to refer to a single clap or be used in special, stylistic, or humorous contexts.

For regular everyday speech and for learners, treat oklaski as plural-only and match adjectives to the plural form (głośne oklaski, gorące oklaski, etc.).

What does z całej sali literally mean, and what case is used there? Why z, not od?

z całej sali literally means “from the whole hall” (from all over the hall).

z here means “from (the inside of, out of)” – a spatial origin.
It requires the genitive case.

Base (nominative) forms:

cała sala – “the whole hall”

Genitive singular after z:

cała → całej (feminine adj. nom. → gen.)
sala → sali (feminine noun nom. → gen.)

So:

z całej sali – “from the whole hall” (genitive after z)

Why not od?

od tends to be used more with people or sources (“from someone,” “from a friend,” “from Warsaw to Gdańsk”).
z is natural for something coming from inside a place: z domu (from home), z lasu (from the forest), z sali (from the hall).

Here we’re talking about applause coming from all parts of the hall, so z całej sali is the idiomatic choice.

Why do we say całej sali and not cała sala or całą salę?

Because after z (“from”) we must use the genitive case, not nominative or accusative.

Base (nominative): cała sala – “the whole hall”

Genitive singular (after z):

adjective: cała → całej
noun: sala → sali

So:

❌ z cała sala (nominative) – incorrect
❌ z całą salę (accusative) – incorrect here
✅ z całej sali (genitive) – correct after z

The endings -ej (for całej) and -i (for sali) are typical of the feminine singular genitive.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move parts of the sentence around?

Polish word order is relatively flexible, especially in spoken or narrative style. You can move elements for emphasis or rhythm.

All of these are grammatically possible:

Po pierwszej piosence słychać głośne oklaski z całej sali. (neutral)
Po pierwszej piosence z całej sali słychać głośne oklaski. (slight emphasis on “from the whole hall”)
Głośne oklaski z całej sali słychać po pierwszej piosence. (emphasis on “loud applause from the whole hall”)

However:

The prepositional phrases (po pierwszej piosence, z całej sali) should stay together (don’t separate po from piosence, or z from sali).
Don’t split głośne and oklaski with other words in between.

Meaning stays basically the same; what changes is what you foreground in the sentence.

The sentence describes something that happens after an event. Shouldn’t it be past tense, like było słychać instead of słychać?

You can use both present and past here, depending on style and context:

Po pierwszej piosence słychać głośne oklaski z całej sali.
– Present tense, but often used in “historical present” or general description: “(Whenever / in this scene) after the first song, loud applause can be heard…”
Po pierwszej piosence było słychać głośne oklaski z całej sali.
– Past tense: “After the first song, loud applause could be heard…” (a specific past event).

In narrative writing or commentary (e.g. describing a concert as it unfolds), Polish often uses the present tense to make the action feel immediate, even if in real time it already happened.

How would I negate this sentence? Where does nie go with słychać?

To negate słychać, you put nie directly before it:

Po pierwszej piosence nie słychać głośnych oklasków z całej sali.
– “After the first song, loud applause is not heard from the whole hall.”

Changes to notice:

nie słychać – simple negation (“cannot be heard”).
The object shifts to genitive when negated (a common rule in Polish):
- głośne oklaski (accusative) → głośnych oklasków (genitive)

So the full correct negative version is:

✅ Po pierwszej piosence nie słychać głośnych oklasków z całej sali.