Learn Hardcore Polish: W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorem. - At the weekend I like to stroll around the center, especially in the evening.

w weekend – this is the most common, natural way to say "on/at the weekend" in everyday Polish.
- Grammatically it’s accusative, used as an adverbial expression of time (similar to w przyszły piątek, w poniedziałek).
w weekendzie – this form is possible but:
- it sounds less natural in everyday speech in many contexts,
- it tends to be used more when you are talking about a specific weekend as a period of time and describing events inside it, e.g.:
  - W tym weekendzie było bardzo zimno. (less common; many speakers would still prefer w ten weekend or w weekend)

For you as a learner, it's safest to use:

w weekend = "on/at the weekend"
w weekendy / w weekendy zwykle... = "on weekends / at weekends" (habitually)

Why is it lubię spacerować, not something like lubię spacery?

In Polish, when you talk about liking an activity, you normally use:

lubić + infinitive

So:

Lubię spacerować. – I like walking (as an activity).
Lubię czytać. – I like reading.
Lubię pływać. – I like swimming.

You can say:

Lubię spacery. – I like walks.

…but that slightly shifts the focus toward the walks themselves (as events/things) rather than the activity in general. In many contexts, both are possible, but:

lubię spacerować = more about the activity of walking
lubię spacery = more about walks as countable experiences

What’s the difference between spacerować, chodzić, and iść? Why use spacerować here?

All three can involve walking, but they feel different:

spacerować – "to stroll", "to go for a walk"
- relaxed, usually for pleasure, not to get somewhere specific
- Lubię spacerować po centrum. – I like strolling around the center.
chodzić – "to walk (habitually)", "to go (repeatedly / in general)"
- can be about walking, but also about going somewhere regularly
- Chodzę do pracy pieszo. – I walk to work.
- Lubię chodzić po mieście. – I like walking around the city. (more general than spacerować)
iść – "to go (on foot) right now / at this moment / in one specific direction"
- one-time, concrete movement
- Idę do sklepu. – I’m going to the shop (on foot, now).

In the sentence:

W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum…

spacerować is ideal because it suggests relaxed, aimless walking for pleasure, which matches the idea of weekend evening strolls.

Why is it po centrum, not w centrum? What’s the difference?

Both are correct, but they emphasize different ideas:

w centrum = in the center (inside that area)
- Focus on location: where something happens.
- Mieszkam w centrum. – I live in the center.
po centrum (with po
- locative) = around / through the center, moving around inside that area
- Focus on movement within the center.
- Spacerować po centrum – to walk around the center (through different streets, not just standing or sitting there).

So:

spacerować po centrum = walk around the city center, moving through it
spacerować w centrum = walk in the center (grammatically OK, but less idiomatic here; po centrum is the very natural collocation)

What case is centrum in after po, and is this a general rule?

In po centrum, the noun centrum is in the locative case.

The general rule for po is:

po + locative when it means movement or distribution within / over / around a surface or area:
- po centrum – around/through the center
- po parku – around the park
- po ulicy – along the street
- po całym domu – all over the house

So:

po + [locative] – movement within/over an area, or distribution over it
w + [locative or accusative], na + [locative or accusative] – similar patterns, but with different meanings

In this sentence:

po → requires locative
centrum → has locative form (w/po) centrum (same as nominative for this neuter noun)

What is zwłaszcza exactly, and how is it different from szczególnie?

zwłaszcza means especially / in particular. It highlights something as a special case out of a broader group.

W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorem.
→ On weekends I like walking around the center, especially in the evening.

szczególnie is very similar and often interchangeable:

W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum, szczególnie wieczorem.

Nuance:

In everyday speech, many people use them almost synonymously.
Some speakers feel:
- zwłaszcza = a bit stronger "especially, above all"
- szczególnie = "particularly, in a special way", sometimes more about degree (how much) than selection.

But in most learner contexts, you can treat them as near-synonyms and both are fine here.

Why is it wieczorem, not wieczór or w wieczór?

wieczór is the basic noun (evening), and wieczorem is its instrumental form, used adverbially to mean "in the evening".

Polish very often uses instrumental for time expressions like this:

rano (from ranek) – in the morning
wieczorem (from wieczór) – in the evening
nocą (from noc) – at night
latem (from lato) – in summer

So:

Wieczorem oglądam film. – I watch a film in the evening.
You usually do not say w wieczór in this time sense. It sounds wrong/unnatural.

In your sentence:

…zwłaszcza wieczorem.
= especially in the evening (using the instrumental as an adverbial time expression).

Can I change the word order, e.g. Lubię spacerować po centrum w weekend, zwłaszcza wieczorem? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order; Polish word order is relatively flexible.

Possible variants:

W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorem.
– Neutral, natural; first sets the time, then what you like.
Lubię spacerować po centrum w weekend, zwłaszcza wieczorem.
– Also correct; starting with lubię emphasizes the liking a bit more.
Lubię w weekend spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorem.
– Also possible; slightly more spoken-style, stressing weekend as the time when you like doing it.

The basic meaning stays the same: the differences are in emphasis and rhythm, not in facts.

Why is there a comma before zwłaszcza wieczorem?

The part zwłaszcza wieczorem is an adverbial phrase of exception/emphasis; it adds extra, non-essential information ("in particular, in the evening"). In Polish, such additional modifying phrases are often set off by a comma.

Think of it like an English comma before "especially in the evening":

I like walking around the center at the weekend, especially in the evening.

So:

Main statement: W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum.
Extra emphasis: zwłaszcza wieczorem.

The comma marks that second part as an additional, emphatic detail.

How would I say "On weekends I like to walk around the center, especially in the evenings" (habit in general), not just "on the weekend"?

To express a general habit on weekends, Polish often uses a plural time expression:

W weekendy lubię spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorami.

Breakdown:

w weekendy – on weekends / at weekends (regularly)
wieczorami – in the evenings (habitually, plural form used adverbially)

So the original sentence:

W weekend lubię spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorem.
– feels more like "On a / the weekend…" (single weekend, or a typical one).

The habitual/general version:

W weekendy lubię spacerować po centrum, zwłaszcza wieczorami.