Learn Hardcore Polish: Ona pije syrop trzy razy, bo lekarz tak powiedział. - She drinks syrup three times because the doctor said so.

Because the sentence says trzy razy (three times – implicitly three times a day / as prescribed), it describes a repeated, habitual action, so the imperfective pić → pije is natural.

Other options:

wypije syrop – wypić (perfective) suggests one complete act in the future: she will drink (up) the syrup (once). Not good with trzy razy.
będzie pić syrop – she will be drinking / will be taking the syrup; focuses on future, not on the current routine.

So Ona pije syrop trzy razy fits the idea: She takes the syrup (regularly) three times…

Why is syrop in this form? Shouldn’t it change for the object, like in other cases?

Syrop is masculine inanimate. In Polish, for masculine inanimate nouns:

Nominative singular: syrop
Accusative singular: syrop

They look the same.

In the sentence, syrop is the direct object of pije, so it’s in the accusative, but the form is identical to the nominative. That’s why you don’t see a visible change.

Also, Polish has no articles (a / the), so you just say syrop, and context tells you whether it’s the syrup or some syrup.

Why is it trzy razy and not trzy raz?

The noun raz (time, occurrence) is irregular:

1: raz
2, 3, 4: razy → dwa razy, trzy razy, cztery razy
5 and above: usually razy as well → pięć razy, sześć razy, etc.

So:

jeden raz (or just raz)
trzy razy (not trzy raz)

The plural form razy is required with trzy.

Why is there a comma before bo?

In Polish, you must put a comma before most subordinating conjunctions, including bo (because).

The structure is:

Main clause: Ona pije syrop trzy razy
Subordinate clause (reason): bo lekarz tak powiedział

Polish rule: main clause + comma + bo + subordinate clause.

So the comma is grammatically required:
Ona pije syrop trzy razy, bo lekarz tak powiedział.

What does tak do in bo lekarz tak powiedział? Could we just say bo lekarz powiedział?

Tak literally means so / like that / in that way.
Here, bo lekarz tak powiedział is very close to English because the doctor said so.

Nuances:

bo lekarz powiedział – “because the doctor said (it)”. Grammatically OK, but feels incomplete and less natural in conversation.
bo lekarz tak powiedział – “because the doctor said so / said it that way”. This is what people actually say most of the time.

So tak refers back to the instruction: this way, in this manner (three times).

Why is powiedział masculine, even though a doctor can be a woman?

In Polish, the noun lekarz (doctor) is:

grammatically masculine (like mężczyzna = man)
used for doctors of any actual gender, unless you specifically say lekarka (female doctor)

The past-tense verb agrees with grammatical gender:

lekarz powiedział – masculine form
lekarka powiedziała – feminine form

So if you keep lekarz, you must say powiedział, even if in reality the doctor is a woman. To make the doctor explicitly female, you would change the noun:

…bo lekarka tak powiedziała.

Is ona necessary here? Could we just say Pije syrop trzy razy…?

No, ona is not strictly necessary. Polish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending shows person and number.

Possible versions:

Ona pije syrop trzy razy… – neutral, but adds a bit of emphasis on she: She (as opposed to someone else) takes the syrup…
Pije syrop trzy razy… – also correct; often used if the subject is already clear from context.

You’d typically use ona when:

introducing a new subject
contrasting: On pije tabletki, a ona pije syrop.
stressing that it’s specifically her.

Why is pije (present) used together with powiedział (past)? Is that combination normal in Polish?

Yes, this is completely natural in Polish.

pije – present: describes what is happening now / habitually (she is taking the syrup (now / regularly))
powiedział – past: describes a finished act of speaking (the doctor told her earlier)

The logic:

Now she pije syrop trzy razy
The reason: earlier, lekarz tak powiedział

So mixing present in the main clause with past in the reason clause is standard and matches the real-world timeline.

Could we say Ona trzy razy pije syrop or Ona pije trzy razy syrop? Does word order matter here?

Word order in Polish is flexible, but not all orders sound equally natural.

Most neutral, natural here:

Ona pije syrop trzy razy, bo lekarz tak powiedział.

Other options:

Ona trzy razy pije syrop – possible; feels more like you’re emphasizing three times: She three times drinks the syrup.
Ona pije trzy razy syrop – sounds awkward; Polish speakers almost never place trzy razy between verb and object like this.

General tendency: frequency expressions like trzy razy usually go:

after the object: pije syrop trzy razy
or before the verb: trzy razy pije syrop (with emphasis on the number of times)

What’s the difference between bo and ponieważ here? Could we say ponieważ lekarz tak powiedział instead?

Both bo and ponieważ mean because.

bo – more colloquial, very common in speech and informal writing
ponieważ – more formal or neutral, common in written language, essays, etc.

In this sentence:

…bo lekarz tak powiedział. – very natural, everyday speech
…ponieważ lekarz tak powiedział. – also correct, just a bit more formal / bookish.

Grammatically, both are fine, and they keep the comma:

Ona pije syrop trzy razy, bo / ponieważ lekarz tak powiedział.

Can we use brać instead of pić for medicine? For example, ona bierze syrop?

Both verbs are used with medicines, but there are preferences:

brać lekarstwa / leki / tabletki – to take medicine / pills
pić syrop – to drink / take syrup

So:

Ona bierze lekarstwa – natural
Ona pije syrop – natural
Ona bierze syrop – possible, but less typical; people usually say pić syrop because you physically drink it.

If you want a more general sentence (not specifying the form of the medicine), brać leki is the most common phrase.

Why doesn’t the sentence say trzy razy dziennie if we mean “three times a day”?

The sentence as given is shorter and more general:

trzy razy – three times (the period is implied from context, often a day)

If you want to be explicit:

Ona pije syrop trzy razy dziennie, bo lekarz tak powiedział.
She takes the syrup three times a day…

So:

trzy razy – focuses just on the count
trzy razy dziennie – three times per day (more precise, often in instructions)

Why is it powiedział, not mówił? What would bo lekarz tak mówił mean?

Polish distinguishes:

powiedzieć (perfective) → powiedział – one completed act of saying
mówić (imperfective) → mówił – ongoing / repeated saying, or focusing on the process

In this context:

bo lekarz tak powiedział – because the doctor said so (once, as an instruction) – that’s what we usually mean about a prescription.
bo lekarz tak mówił – because the doctor was saying so / used to say so (repeatedly). This suggests a repeated or habitual statement, not a single clear instruction.

For a single prescription or instruction, powiedział is the natural choice.