Learn Hardcore Polish: W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku. - On the weekend I like to exercise in the park.

w literally means “in”, but with time expressions it often corresponds to English “on/at”:
- w poniedziałek – on Monday
- w maju – in May
- w weekend – on/at the weekend
w weekendzie is technically possible but sounds odd/archaic in this meaning of “during the weekend”; people essentially don’t say that in everyday speech.
na weekend usually means “for the weekend” (as in for the duration of the weekend, often with movement or planning):
- Jadę nad morze na weekend. – I’m going to the seaside for the weekend.

So for a general, habitual statement like this sentence, w weekend is the natural choice.

What grammatical case is used in “w weekend”?

Formally, weekend here is in the accusative singular.

Masculine inanimate nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative, so:
- nominative: weekend
- accusative: weekend (same spelling)

With time expressions indicating “when?”, the preposition w usually takes the accusative:

w poniedziałek (acc.) – on Monday
w przyszły piątek (acc.) – next Friday
w weekend (acc.) – at/on the weekend

So it’s accusative, even though it looks like nominative.

Why is it “w parku” and not “w park” or “w parkie”?

Because w (in its locative meaning “in/inside”) requires the locative case, and park in the locative singular is parku.

Declension of park (masc., inanimate) singular:

Nominative: park – a park
Genitive: parku
Dative: parkowi
Accusative: park
Instrumental: parkiem
Locative: parku
Vocative: parku

After w meaning “in” (location), you use the locative:

w parku – in the park
w domu – in the house
w kinie – in the cinema

So w parku = “in the park”, with parku in the locative case.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence “W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku.”?

Approximate phonetic transcription (IPA-style):

/v ˈvikɛnd ˈlubjɛ ˈt͡ɕfit͡ʂɨt͡ɕ v ˈparkʊ/

More English‑friendly breakdown:

W – like v
weekend – roughly VEE-kend (first syllable stressed)
lubię – LOO-byeh (stress on LOO, nasal-ish ę at the end)
ćwiczyć – CHFI-chihch
- ćw ≈ “chf” (soft ć plus w)
- final -yć something like ihch with a soft, hissing ć
w – again like v
parku – PAR-koo (stress on PAR)

Word stress in Polish is almost always on the penultimate (second‑to‑last) syllable:

wi-KEEND, LU-bię, ĆWI-czyć, PAR-ku

Why is it “lubię ćwiczyć” and not something like a gerund form (like English “I like exercising”)?

Polish does not use a gerund form in this structure. Instead, after lubić (to like), you normally put the infinitive of the verb:

Lubię ćwiczyć. – I like to exercise / I like exercising.
Lubię czytać. – I like reading / to read.
Lubię tańczyć. – I like dancing / to dance.

English distinguishes “like to exercise” vs “like exercising”; Polish just uses the infinitive for both meanings. So ćwiczyć here is the basic dictionary form of the verb.

What does “lubię” tell me about the subject? Why isn’t there “ja”?

Lubię is the 1st person singular form of lubić (to like). The ending -ę tells you that the subject is “I”:

(ja) lubię – I like
(ty) lubisz – you (sg.) like
(on/ona/ono) lubi – he/she/it likes
(my) lubimy – we like
(wy) lubicie – you (pl.) like
(oni/one) lubią – they like

In Polish, personal pronouns (ja, ty, on, ona…) are usually dropped unless you want to emphasize or contrast:

Lubię ćwiczyć w parku. – I like exercising in the park.
To ja lubię ćwiczyć w parku, nie on. – It’s me who likes exercising in the park, not him.

The sentence is perfectly normal without ja.

Could I say “Kocham ćwiczyć w parku” instead of “Lubię ćwiczyć w parku”?

You can, but it changes the tone:

lubię – I like, neutral, used for normal preferences, hobbies, everyday likes.
kocham – literally I love, and in Polish this is usually stronger than in casual English.

Kocham ćwiczyć w parku would sound like:

I absolutely love exercising in the park, with strong enthusiasm or passion.

For a simple, neutral statement of preference, lubię is the natural choice.

Is the word order “W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku” fixed, or can I move things around?

Polish word order is relatively flexible. The basic, neutral word order here is:

W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku.

You could say, for example:

Lubię ćwiczyć w parku w weekend. – still normal; a tiny bit more focus on when at the end.
W parku lubię ćwiczyć w weekend. – stresses the place a bit more: In the park I like to exercise at the weekend.

However, not every permutation sounds natural. Common patterns:

Time (when?) often comes at the beginning: W weekend…
Place can be at the start or near the end: w parku

As a learner, stick to W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku or Lubię ćwiczyć w parku w weekend; both are safe and natural.

What aspect is “ćwiczyć” and does it imply anything about how often or how long?

Ćwiczyć is imperfective.

Imperfective verbs in Polish:

describe ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions;
don’t focus on the result being completed.

So lubię ćwiczyć suggests:

a habit / hobby – something you generally like doing, not a one‑time, completed action.

The perfective counterpart is poćwiczyć (or in some contexts poćwiczyć vs ćwiczyć / poćwiczyć trochę), which would be used for a single, bounded event:

Chcę poćwiczyć w parku. – I want to exercise (for a while) in the park.

In your sentence, imperfective ćwiczyć is exactly what you want to express a general preference/habit.

Why is there no word for “the” in “w parku”? How do I know it’s “in the park” and not “in a park”?

Polish has no articles (no “a/an/the”). Whether you translate it as “a park” or “the park” depends on context, not on any extra word in Polish.

W parku can mean either:
- in a park (some park, not specified), or
- in the park (a particular park that is known from context).

English must choose a/the; Polish simply uses parku and leaves the rest to context and the situation.

Can I use “na weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku” and what would that mean?

Yes, but it slightly shifts the meaning.

W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku.
– Habitual statement: At/on the weekend, I like exercising in the park.
Na weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku.
– Sounds more like: For the weekend (as an activity), I like to exercise in the park.
It can suggest planning or what you choose to do for the weekend, rather than simply describing a regular time when you exercise.

For the usual “On weekends, I like to exercise in the park” meaning, w weekend is more natural.

How would I say “On weekends I like to exercise in the park” (plural, more general)?

You can make it more explicitly plural/habitual like this:

W weekendy lubię ćwiczyć w parku. – On weekends I like to exercise in the park.

Here:

weekend (singular) → weekendy (plural, nominative/accusative).
With w for time expressions, we still use accusative, so: w weekendy.

Both:

W weekend lubię ćwiczyć w parku.
W weekendy lubię ćwiczyć w parku.

can express a habitual action. The plural just makes the repeated/habitual sense even clearer.