Breakdown of W sobotę dzieci grają w koszykówkę na boisku przy szkole.
Questions & Answers about W sobotę dzieci grają w koszykówkę na boisku przy szkole.
The preposition w has different meanings and takes different cases:
- w + accusative = on (a day), into
- w + locative = in (inside)
For days of the week meaning “on [day]”, Polish uses w + accusative:
- sobota (nominative, base form)
- w sobotę (accusative) = on Saturday
w sobota is wrong because sobota is nominative, not accusative.
w soboty is accusative plural and usually means “on Saturdays (in general, repeatedly)”, e.g.:
- W soboty dzieci grają w koszykówkę. – On Saturdays the children play basketball (every Saturday).
In your sentence it’s w sobotę (singular), so it sounds like one specific Saturday or a particular repeated plan understood from context.
sobotę is accusative singular of sobota (feminine noun).
A simplified declension of sobota:
- Nominative (who? what?): sobota – Saturday
- Genitive (of whom? of what?): soboty
- Dative (to/for whom?): sobocie
- Accusative (whom? what?): sobotę
- Instrumental (with whom? with what?): sobotą
- Locative (about/in whom/what): sobocie
- Vocative (addressing): soboto (rarely used in practice)
In time expressions with days of the week, Polish specifically uses the accusative singular with w: w sobotę.
With most ball games and team sports, Polish normally uses grać w + [sport] (accusative):
- grać w piłkę nożną – to play football/soccer
- grać w tenisa – to play tennis
- grać w koszykówkę – to play basketball
Saying grać koszykówkę without w sounds incorrect or at best very odd in standard Polish. The preposition w is simply part of the idiomatic pattern grać w + accusative for these sports.
So the natural phrase is:
- dzieci grają w koszykówkę – the children play basketball
koszykówka is a feminine noun meaning basketball (the sport).
In the phrase grać w [sport], the sport goes into the accusative case:
- nominative: koszykówka (dictionary form)
- accusative singular: koszykówkę
Because w here requires the accusative (with this meaning), we get:
- grają w koszykówkę – they play basketball
So koszykówkę is just the accusative singular of koszykówka.
No. grać w koszykówce is wrong in this meaning.
- w koszykówkę – accusative → used after grać for the sport being played.
- w koszykówce – locative → means in basketball in some more abstract sense (for example: in basketball, the rules are... = w koszykówce zasady są takie…).
In your sentence, you want the activity they do (they play basketball), so you need the accusative:
- dzieci grają w koszykówkę – the children play basketball.
In English children is clearly plural; in Polish dzieci is also grammatically plural, even though it doesn’t end in -y/-i like many plurals.
- dziecko – a child (neuter, singular)
- dzieci – children (plural form; grammatically treated as plural)
So the verb must be 3rd person plural:
- dziecko gra – the child plays
- dzieci grają – the children play
Using singular gra with dzieci would be incorrect.
Polish present tense can describe:
Action happening now
- Dzieci grają w koszykówkę. – The children are playing basketball (right now).
Regular/habitual actions
- W sobotę dzieci grają w koszykówkę. – On Saturday the children play basketball.
(Often understood as: that’s what they (will) do this Saturday or what they usually do on Saturdays, depending on context.)
- W sobotę dzieci grają w koszykówkę. – On Saturday the children play basketball.
Polish does not have a special continuous form (are playing). Context words like teraz (now), zwykle (usually), w sobotę (on Saturday) clarify whether it’s about now, a plan, or a habit.
Aspect can change the meaning:
- dzieci zagrają w koszykówkę – they will play (at some point in the future, one completed playing event).
Yes. Polish word order is flexible. All of these are grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:
W sobotę dzieci grają w koszykówkę na boisku przy szkole.
– Neutral, starting with the time: On Saturday, the children play...Dzieci w sobotę grają w koszykówkę na boisku przy szkole.
– Focuses more on the children: The children (not someone else) play basketball on Saturday...Dzieci grają w koszykówkę w sobotę na boisku przy szkole.
– Sounds like you first say what they do, then add when and where.
The meaning stays basically the same; word order changes what feels emphasized, not the core facts.
The difference is mainly about how Polish conceptualizes the place:
- na
- locative: usually on / at a surface or open area
- w
- locative: usually in / inside something
A boisko is an open playing field / court, so in Polish you are on it, not inside it:
- na boisku – on/at the sports field
- w boisku – would mean inside the field, which sounds wrong unless you’re somehow buried in it.
So for sports fields, courts, pitches, etc., you normally use na:
- na boisku, na stadionie, na korcie tenisowym
boisku is the locative singular of boisko (neuter noun).
- nominative: boisko – field, pitch, court
- genitive: boiska
- dative: boisku
- accusative: boisko
- instrumental: boiskiem
- locative: boisku
After the preposition na meaning on / at, we often use the locative:
- na boisku – on/at the field
- na uniwersytecie – at the university
- na dworcu – at the station
So boisku is locative, required by na in this sense.
The preposition przy (near, by, next to) always takes the locative case.
The noun szkoła (school, feminine) declines like this (singular):
- nominative: szkoła – school
- genitive: szkoły
- dative: szkole
- accusative: szkołę
- instrumental: szkołą
- locative: szkole
Because przy requires the locative, we get:
- przy szkole – near/by the school
przy szkoła (nominative) and przy szkołę (accusative) are wrong with this preposition.
All three can mean “near the school”, but there are nuances:
przy szkole – very close, basically right by or at the school.
Your sentence suggests the field is kind of attached to, or belonging to, the school.obok szkoły – next to the school, beside it.
Neutral “beside”; doesn’t strongly suggest ownership.koło szkoły – near the school, in the vicinity of the school.
Slightly more general; not necessarily immediately next to it.
All are common, but przy szkole sounds particularly natural for a school sports field located on or immediately next to school grounds.
No, not in standard Polish.
For sports like basketball, football, tennis, etc., you very strongly prefer:
- grać w koszykówkę
- grać w piłkę nożną
- grać w tenisa
Without w, grać koszykówkę sounds incorrect or at least very non‑standard. Think of grać w as a fixed pattern for “to play (a game/sport)”.
You have a few options:
Use the plural of the day:
- W soboty dzieci grają w koszykówkę na boisku przy szkole.
→ On Saturdays the children play basketball at the field near the school.
- W soboty dzieci grają w koszykówkę na boisku przy szkole.
Add an adverb of frequency:
- W każdą sobotę dzieci grają… – Every Saturday the children play…
- Zazwyczaj w sobotę dzieci grają… – Usually on Saturday the children play…
Your original W sobotę dzieci grają… can already be understood as a repeated plan in context, but w soboty or w każdą sobotę makes the habitual meaning explicit.
Polish almost always stresses the second‑to‑last (penultimate) syllable.
koszykówkę → ko‑shy‑KOOV‑keh
- Stress: KOOV
- sz = English “sh”; ó = like u in rule; ę at the end is very light, often like a soft “e”.
boisku → BOY‑skoo
- Stress: BOY
- oi = like “oy” in boy; u like “oo” in food.
szkole → SHKO‑leh
- Stress: SHKO
- sz = “sh”; o like in not (British-ish); e like in bed.
These are approximate English-based guides just to help you hear the words.