Learn Hardcore Polish: Ona otwiera prezenty powoli i czyta kartki z życzeniami. - She opens the presents slowly and reads the cards with wishes.

Emphasise she (as opposed to someone else):
To ona otwiera prezenty, nie on. – It’s she who is opening the presents, not he.
Clarify who you’re talking about if it’s not obvious from context.

Polish is a “pro‑drop” language: the verb ending -a in otwiera / czyta already shows it’s she (3rd person singular), so the subject pronoun is often omitted.

What exactly is the form otwiera (tense, person, aspect), and why not otworzy?

Otwiera is:

3rd person singular
present tense
imperfective aspect
from the verb otwierać – to open (ongoing, repeated, or in progress)

So ona otwiera = she is opening / she opens.

Otworzy is:

3rd person singular
future tense
perfective aspect
from otworzyć – to open (as a single completed event)

Compare:

Ona otwiera prezenty. – She is opening / (usually) opens the presents.
Ona otworzy prezenty. – She will open the presents (at some point; one completed action in the future).

You use otwiera here because the scene is happening now and we’re focusing on the ongoing action, not just the end result.

Why is it prezenty and not prezentów?

The choice comes from case and gender.

prezent – masculine inanimate noun
Nominative plural: prezenty
Accusative plural (for masculine inanimate) = same as nominative plural → prezenty
Genitive plural: prezentów

In this sentence, prezenty are the direct object of otwiera → they must be in the accusative:

(Kto?) Ona
(Co robi?) otwiera
(Co?) prezenty → accusative plural = prezenty

You would use prezentów in contexts that require the genitive, for example:

Nie otwiera prezentów. – She is not opening (any) presents.
Dużo prezentów. – A lot of presents.

Here, because it’s a straightforward object of a positive verb, prezenty is correct.

Why is powoli placed after prezenty? Can it go in other positions?

Powoli means slowly and is an adverb. In Polish, adverb placement is flexible. All of these are grammatically correct, with slightly different emphasis:

Ona otwiera prezenty powoli i czyta kartki…
Ona powoli otwiera prezenty i czyta kartki…
Powoli otwiera prezenty i czyta kartki…

Very rough nuance:

powoli otwiera prezenty – focuses a bit more on the manner of opening.
otwiera prezenty powoli – neutral, common spoken order.
Powoli otwiera… at the start – stylistic, you’re introducing the scene by the slowness.

Unlike English, where adverb placement can be more restricted, Polish lets you move powoli around as long as the sentence remains clear and natural-sounding.

What’s the difference between czyta and przeczyta? Why is czyta used here?

Both come from verbs meaning to read, but they differ in aspect:

czytać → czyta: imperfective (ongoing / repeated / process)
przeczytać → przeczyta: perfective (single completed act)

Examples:

Ona czyta kartki z życzeniami.
She is reading / she reads the cards (focus on the activity, not whether she finishes).
Ona przeczyta kartki z życzeniami.
She will read the cards (and we focus on the fact that she will finish reading them).

In your sentence we’re describing what is happening right now, as a scene: opening presents and reading cards. That’s naturally expressed with imperfective present: czyta.

Why kartki, not karty, and what case is it?

Kartka and karta are different nouns:

kartka – a sheet of paper, a note, a greeting card
kartka z życzeniami = a card with wishes = a greeting card
karta – card (e.g. playing card, card in a device, menu page, etc.), also used in some fixed phrases

In this context, we mean greeting cards, so we use kartki (z życzeniami).

Case and number:

Base: kartka (feminine noun)
Accusative plural: kartki

They are the direct object of czyta:

(Kto?) Ona
(Co robi?) czyta
(Co?) kartki → accusative plural = kartki

Why is it z życzeniami and not just życzenia or życzeń?

Z życzeniami literally means with wishes and functions like with good wishes or containing wishes. Grammar points:

Preposition z (with) normally takes the instrumental case.
życzenia (nominative/accusative plural) → życzeniami (instrumental plural).

So:

kartki z życzeniami = cards with wishes (i.e. greeting cards)
case breakdown:
- kartki – accusative plural
- z życzeniami – with + instrumental plural

You’d use życzenia or życzeń in other structures:

Dostała życzenia. – She received (some) wishes. (accusative plural)
Dużo życzeń. – A lot of wishes. (genitive plural)

Here we need the z + instrumental construction, so z życzeniami.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” (articles) in this Polish sentence?

Polish has no articles (a/an, the). The sentence:

Ona otwiera prezenty powoli i czyta kartki z życzeniami.

could be translated, depending on context, as:

She is opening the presents slowly and reading the cards with wishes.
She is opening some presents slowly and reading some greeting cards.
She opens presents slowly and reads greeting cards (as a habit).

Whether you understand it as the or some comes purely from context, not from grammar. If you really need to specify, you can use other words:

te prezenty – these / the presents
jakieś prezenty – some presents
wszystkie prezenty – all the presents

But plain prezenty / kartki already sounds natural and is usually enough.

How do I know this means “is opening / is reading” and not “opens / reads” as a habit?

Polish present tense of imperfective verbs covers both:

English present continuous (is opening, is reading), and
English simple present (opens, reads).

So ona otwiera prezenty i czyta kartki can mean:

Right now: She is opening presents and reading cards.
Habitually: She (always) opens presents and reads cards (in this way).

You rely on context to decide which English tense fits best. In a narrative describing a current scene, English usually uses is opening / is reading, but Polish just uses the simple present: otwiera, czyta.

Why do the verbs appear once each (…otwiera… i czyta…), and not “She opens and reads…” with only one verb?

In English, we can say:

She slowly *opens and reads the cards.*

In Polish, you normally repeat the verb, especially if the objects or complements differ:

Ona otwiera prezenty powoli i czyta kartki z życzeniami.

We could try to share one verb, but it would sound odd or change the meaning:

Ona powoli otwiera i czyta kartki z życzeniami.
This sounds like she is opening and reading the cards (not the presents).

By using otwiera for prezenty and czyta for kartki, the roles stay clear and the sentence remains natural. Repeating verbs in such coordination is very common in Polish.

Does the verb form change because the subject is feminine (ona)?

In the present tense, the verb form does not change for gender:

Ona otwiera / czyta – she opens / reads
On otwiera / czyta – he opens / reads
Ono otwiera / czyta – it opens / reads

All use the same form: otwiera, czyta (3rd person singular).

Gender shows up strongly in the past tense and some other structures:

Ona otwierała prezenty. – She was opening presents.
On otwierał prezenty. – He was opening presents.

Here you see -ła (feminine) vs -ł (masculine). But in present tense, gender is not marked on the verb.