Każdy przygotował dla babci mały prezent.

Everyone prepared a small present for grandma.

Breakdown of Każdy przygotował dla babci mały prezent.

• mały: small
• przygotować: to prepare
• każdy: every
• dla: for
• babcia: the grandma
• prezent: the present

Questions & Answers about Każdy przygotował dla babci mały prezent.

Why is it przygotował (masculine singular) and not a plural verb like przygotowali, since każdy means “everyone”?

In Polish, każdy is grammatically singular, even though in meaning it refers to many people (“each person, everyone”).

Because it is singular, the verb must also be singular:

• Każdy przygotował… – Each (person) prepared…

The masculine form (przygotował) is the default, “generic” form used when:

• the group is mixed (men + women), or
• you don’t want to specify gender.

If you were clearly talking about only women, you’d say:

• Każda przygotowała dla babci mały prezent.
  “Each (woman) prepared a small present for grandma.”

What’s the difference between każdy and wszyscy, and could I say Wszyscy przygotowali dla babci mały prezent?

Both are possible, but they’re not identical:

• każdy = each, every (single) person – grammatically singular

  • Każdy przygotował… – emphasizes individual action: each person prepared their own present.

• wszyscy = everyone, all (people) – grammatically plural

  • Wszyscy przygotowali dla babci mały prezent. – the whole group did it; it can mean they all did it together, or they all did it, but without stressing the “each individually” idea.

So:

• Każdy przygotował… – “Each one prepared…”
• Wszyscy przygotowali… – “Everyone prepared…” (more collective-sounding)

Why do we say dla babci and not just babci like in Dał babci prezent?

Different verbs prefer different constructions:

• With dać (to give), you usually use a dative indirect object without a preposition:

  • Dał babci prezent. – “He gave grandma a present.”

• With przygotować (to prepare), the natural pattern for “for someone” is dla + genitive:

  • przygotować dla babci (czegoś) – “to prepare (something) for grandma”

So:

• dla babci – “for grandma” (babci = genitive singular of babcia)
• You would not normally say: Każdy przygotował babci mały prezent.
  It’s understandable, but sounds off; native speakers expect dla here.

What form is babci and why does it end with -i?

Babci is:

• the genitive singular of babcia (“grandma”)
• used here because of the preposition dla, which always takes the genitive case.

Declension (partial) of babcia:

• Nominative: babcia – “grandma” (subject)
• Genitive: babci – “of grandma, for grandma” (after dla)
• Dative: babci – “to/for grandma” (without preposition, e.g. Dał babci prezent)

So in dla babci, the -i marks the genitive required by dla.

Why is it mały prezent and not mała prezent?

Adjectives in Polish must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• prezent is:
  • masculine
  • singular
  • in the accusative case here (direct object)

For a masculine, singular, accusative inanimate noun like prezent, the adjective form is:

• mały – “small”

So:

• mały prezent = correct
• mała prezent = wrong, because mała is feminine singular.

Why isn’t it małego prezentu? I thought objects often take -ego and -u endings.

You’re thinking of the genitive or some masculine accusative patterns. In this sentence, we need accusative of an inanimate masculine noun:

• prezent is masculine inanimate.
• For masculine inanimate nouns, accusative = nominative:
  • Nominative: mały prezent
  • Accusative: mały prezent

Forms like małego prezentu belong to the genitive:

• Genitive: małego prezentu – “of a small present”, “without a small present”, “for a small present” (depending on context)

But here, a small present is just the direct object (“prepared what?”), so we use accusative, not genitive:

• przygotował mały prezent – He prepared a small present.

Can I change the word order and say Każdy przygotował mały prezent dla babci? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Każdy przygotował mały prezent dla babci.

This is perfectly correct and very natural. Polish word order is relatively flexible. Both:

• Każdy przygotował dla babci mały prezent.
• Każdy przygotował mały prezent dla babci.

mean the same thing. The subtle difference is in focus:

• Placing dla babci earlier can slightly highlight “for grandma”.
• Placing mały prezent earlier can slightly highlight the present itself.

But in everyday speech, they’re effectively equivalent.

What’s the difference between przygotował and przygotowywał in this sentence?

These are two different aspects of the verb:

• przygotował – perfective, past

  • Focuses on a completed result: the present is ready.
  • “He prepared / has prepared.”

• przygotowywał – imperfective, past

  • Focuses on the process, duration, or repetition, not necessarily completed.
  • “He was preparing / used to prepare / would prepare.”

So:

• Każdy przygotował dla babci mały prezent.
  Each person finished preparing a small present for grandma.

• Każdy przygotowywał dla babci mały prezent.
  Each person was in the process of preparing a small present (we don’t know if they finished, or it describes a repeated habit).

Is there an implied subject pronoun, like “he” or “they”? Why don’t we say On każdy przygotował…?

In Polish, subject pronouns (on, ona, oni etc.) are usually dropped when the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

Here, każdy itself plays the role of the subject (“each person”), so you don’t add another pronoun:

• Każdy przygotował… – correct
• On każdy przygotował… – wrong/redundant; it sounds unnatural.

Polish would only add a pronoun for extra emphasis or contrast, and not together with każdy in this way.

How would the sentence change if we were clearly talking about only women?

You change the subject pronoun (from każdy to każda) and the verb to feminine singular:

• Mixed/unspecified gender:

  • Każdy przygotował dla babci mały prezent.

• Only women:

  • Każda przygotowała dla babci mały prezent.

Here:

• każdy → każda (masculine → feminine)
• przygotował → przygotowała (masculine past → feminine past)

Could I use other words instead of prezent, like podarunek or upominek? Would the sentence change?

Yes, there are synonyms:

• prezent – most common, neutral “present / gift”.
• podarunek – a bit more formal or literary “gift”.
• upominek – often “small gift”, sometimes a souvenir / token.

You could say, for example:

• Każdy przygotował dla babci mały podarunek.
• Każdy przygotował dla babci mały upominek.

The grammar stays the same (masculine, singular):

• mały podarunek
• mały upominek

What tense exactly is przygotował? Is it more like English “prepared” or “has prepared”?

Przygotował is the simple past tense of a perfective verb.

Depending on context, it can correspond to either:

• English simple past:
  
  • “Everyone prepared a small present for grandma.”
• Or English present perfect (when the result is relevant now):
  
  • “Everyone has prepared a small present for grandma.”

Polish doesn’t distinguish those two forms morphologically; context decides which English translation feels more natural.

How would I say “Everyone is preparing a small present for grandma” in Polish?

You need the imperfective verb and the present tense:

• Każdy przygotowuje dla babci mały prezent.

Here:

• przygotowuje = “is preparing / prepares” (imperfective, present)
• It describes an ongoing or general action, not a completed one.