Learn Hardcore Polish: Latem chcemy pojechać samochodem przez granicę do innego kraju. - In the summer we want to go by car across the border to another country.

Latem is an adverbial form of lato (“summer”) and means “in (the) summer”. It’s the most natural, compact way to talk about when something happens.

You could also say:

w lecie – also “in (the) summer”, perfectly correct, a bit more “full”/explicit.
Latem – slightly more neutral and very common in speech and writing.

w lato is not correct in standard Polish in this meaning; you use latem or w lecie instead.

Is there any difference in meaning between Latem and Tego lata?

Yes, a small nuance:

Latem chcemy… – “In summer, we want to…” (general: this coming summer, or summers in general, depending on context).
Tego lata chcemy… – “This summer we want to…” (more specific: this particular summer, usually the upcoming or current one).

Both are grammatical; tego lata adds a clearer sense of this specific summer.

Why is pojechać used instead of jechać after chcemy?

Both are possible, but they focus on different things:

chcemy pojechać – uses pojechać (perfective). Focus on a single, complete trip in the future: we want to (go and) make that trip.
chcemy jechać – uses jechać (imperfective). Focus more on the process or on being in the state of going/travelling.

In your sentence, chcemy pojechać is more natural, because you’re talking about making one trip abroad in the summer.

What’s the difference between jechać, pojechać, and jeździć?

All three are about moving by vehicle (not on foot), but:

jechać – imperfective, “to go / be going (by vehicle) right now or in progress”
- Teraz jadę do pracy. – “I’m going to work (by car/bus/etc.).”
pojechać – perfective, “to go (by vehicle) as a single, completed trip”
- Jutro pojadę do pracy. – “I will go to work (by car/bus/etc.) tomorrow.”
jeździć – imperfective, habitual / repeated trips
- Codziennie jeżdżę do pracy. – “I go/commute to work every day.”

In Latem chcemy pojechać…, the idea is: one planned trip in the summer → pojechać fits best.

Why is it samochodem and not samochód?

Samochodem is the instrumental case of samochód (“car”). The instrumental is used to express “by means of / using” a tool or vehicle:

samochodem – “by car”
pociągiem – “by train”
autobusem – “by bus”
samolotem – “by plane”

So pojechać samochodem literally means “to go by means of a car”, i.e. “to go by car”. Using samochód (nominative) here would be ungrammatical.

Is samochodem necessary? Doesn’t pojechać already imply going by vehicle?

pojechać only tells us that it’s not on foot (that would be pójść), but it does not specify which vehicle.

Latem chcemy pojechać przez granicę do innego kraju.
= “In summer we want to go across the border to another country.”
(by some vehicle, but unspecified)
Latem chcemy pojechać samochodem…
= “In summer we want to go by car…”

So samochodem adds the detail: it’s a car, not a train, bus, etc.

Why is it przez granicę, not przez granica or something like granice?

The preposition przez (“through / across”) requires the accusative case.

granica – nominative (dictionary form)
granicę – accusative singular

So przez + granicę → przez granicę = “across the border / through the border”.

przez granica is incorrect because granica is nominative, not accusative.

Could the word order be przez granicę samochodem instead of samochodem przez granicę?

Yes, both orders are grammatically possible:

samochodem przez granicę
przez granicę samochodem

Polish word order is relatively flexible. The original order (samochodem przez granicę) is probably the most natural here, but switching them doesn’t change the basic meaning. Differences are very subtle and mostly about rhythm/emphasis, not about grammar.

What’s the difference between przez granicę, do granicy, and na granicę?

They describe different directions:

przez granicę – “across the border”, i.e. you cross it and end up on the other side.
do granicy – “to the border”, you go up to the border line, but not necessarily across.
na granicę – “to the border (as a place)”, often when you think of the border as a location where something happens (e.g. border control).

In your sentence, the idea is clearly crossing into another country, so przez granicę is the natural choice.

Why is it do innego kraju, not do inny kraj or do innyego kraju?

Several rules are working together:

The preposition do (“to, into”) takes the genitive case.
kraj (country) in the genitive singular is kraju.
The adjective inny (“other, another”) must agree in case, number, and gender with kraj.

So:

nominative: inny kraj – “another country”
genitive (after do): innego kraju – “(to) another country”

do inny kraj – wrong case for both words
do innyego kraju – spelling error; correct is innego

Why is the form kraju, not something like kraja?

Kraj is a masculine noun that declines in a specific pattern. In the genitive singular, its form is kraju, not kraja.

Roughly:

nominative: kraj – “country”
genitive: kraju – “of a country / to a country” (after do)
instrumental: krajem – “with/through the country”

This is just the standard declension pattern for kraj; you have to memorize it with the noun.

Where is the word “we” in the Polish sentence? Why isn’t there a pronoun like my?

In Polish, the personal pronoun my (“we”) is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

chcemy = “we want” (1st person plural; -my ending)

So:

Latem chcemy pojechać… – “In summer, we want to go…”
My latem chcemy pojechać… – also correct, but adds emphasis on we (e.g. we want to go, not someone else).

Normally, using just chcemy is more natural unless you want that emphasis.

Could I say Latem pojedziemy samochodem przez granicę do innego kraju instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s also correct, but the meaning is slightly different:

Latem chcemy pojechać… – “In summer, we want to go…”
Focus on desire/intention.
Latem pojedziemy… – “In summer, we will go…”
Focus on a more definite plan or prediction; sounds more like a firm statement of what will happen.

Grammatically both are fine; which one you choose depends on whether you’re talking about what you want to do or what you will (probably) do.