Learn Hardcore Polish: W weekend lubię czytać godzinami. - At the weekend I like to read for hours.

Breakdown of W weekend lubię czytać godzinami.

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Why is it w weekend and not something like w weekendzie?

With time expressions, w usually takes the accusative case:
- w sobotę (on Saturday), w poniedziałek (on Monday), w weekend (on/at the weekend).
weekend is a masculine inanimate noun; its nominative and accusative singular are the same (weekend), so you don’t see a change in form.
You can hear w weekendzie in colloquial speech, but w weekend is more standard and more common in the meaning “on the weekend / at the weekend”.

What case is weekend in here, and why?

It’s in the accusative singular.
Preposition w can govern either locative (for “in, inside”) or accusative (often for time expressions: when something happens).
In w weekend we are talking about when you like to read, so Polish uses w + accusative.

Why is there no word for the in w weekend even though English has “on the weekend”?

Polish has no articles (no direct equivalents of a / an / the).
Whether you mean “on weekends in general”, “on the weekend that’s coming”, or “on the weekend we’re talking about” is understood from context, not from a separate word.
So w weekend lubię czytać godzinami can mean:
- “On weekends I like to read for hours”, or
- “On the weekend (this/that weekend) I like to read for hours”
  depending on context.

Why is it lubię czytać and not lubię czytam?

In Polish, verbs expressing likes/wants/etc. (like lubić, chcieć, musieć) are normally followed by an infinitive, not a conjugated verb:
- lubię czytać – I like to read
- chcę spać – I want to sleep
- muszę pracować – I have to work
czytam is the 1st person singular present (“I read / I am reading”).
After lubię, you do not conjugate the second verb; you keep it in the infinitive: czytać.

What tense and person is lubię, and why does it translate as a general habit?

lubię is 1st person singular, present tense of lubić (“to like”).
Polish uses the simple present both for:
- actions happening now, and
- general habits or repeated actions.
So w weekend lubię czytać godzinami literally is “On weekend I like reading for hours”, but in natural English that means “On weekends I like to read for hours” (a habit).

Why is the verb czytać (imperfective) used here instead of something like przeczytać?

czytać is imperfective – it focuses on the process or ongoing nature of reading.
przeczytać is perfective – it focuses on completing the act of reading (e.g. finishing a book).
The sentence talks about a general activity you enjoy doing for a long time, not about finishing something, so Polish naturally uses the imperfective: czytać.

What exactly does godzinami mean, and what form is it?

godzinami literally comes from godzina (“hour”).
Grammatically, it is the instrumental plural form, but here it functions as an adverbial expression of manner/time, meaning:
- “for hours”, “for many hours at a stretch”.
It implies long, extended periods of time, not just a single hour.

How is godzinami different from przez godzinę or przez wiele godzin?

godzinami – “for hours (on end)”, general, vague, emphasizes long duration, sounds very natural and colloquial.
przez godzinę – “for an hour” (approximately one hour).
przez wiele godzin – “for many hours”, also long but a bit more explicit and slightly more formal/neutral.
In this sentence, godzinami nicely matches the idea of a relaxing, extended activity: “reading for hours”.

Can I move the words around, e.g. say Lubię w weekend czytać godzinami or W weekend godzinami lubię czytać?

Yes. Polish has relatively flexible word order, especially in simple sentences like this. All of these are grammatical:
- W weekend lubię czytać godzinami.
- Lubię w weekend czytać godzinami.
- W weekend godzinami lubię czytać.
The default, neutral order is close to the original, but changing word order can slightly change emphasis:
- Starting with Lubię highlights what you like,
- Putting godzinami earlier can emphasize the “for hours” part.

Why is there no ja (“I”) in the sentence before lubię?

Polish usually omits subject pronouns when the person is clear from the verb ending.
The ending -ę in lubię already shows it’s 1st person singular (“I like”).
Adding ja is only needed for contrast or emphasis:
- Ja w weekend lubię czytać godzinami, a on woli oglądać filmy.
  – I like to read for hours on the weekend, but he prefers to watch films.

How do you pronounce lubię, especially the ę at the end?

lubię is pronounced roughly like [LOO-byeh].
The letter ę at the end of a word is often pronounced as a simple “e” sound in everyday speech (nasality is very weak or disappears).
So:
- lu- as in English “loo”,
- -bię approximately bye-eh merged into one syllable.

Could I say Na weekend lubię czytać godzinami instead of W weekend?

na weekend is usually used with the meaning “for the weekend (as a period)”, often with movement or planning:
- Wyjeżdżam na weekend. – I’m going away for the weekend.
w weekend describes when something happens:
- W weekend lubię czytać godzinami. – On/at the weekend I like to read for hours.
Na weekend lubię czytać godzinami sounds odd; it suggests “for the weekend I like to read for hours” and isn’t how natives would normally phrase this habitual activity. Stick with w weekend here.

Does w weekend mean “this coming weekend” or “weekends in general”?

Grammatically, it can mean both; Polish doesn’t mark this explicitly.
Context (and sometimes additional words) decide:
- General habit:
  - W weekend lubię czytać godzinami. – On weekends (in general) I like to read for hours.
- Specific weekend:
  - W ten weekend lubię raczej odpoczywać. – This weekend I’d rather rest.
Without extra context, learners often interpret it as a general habit.