Learn Hardcore Polish: Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent, a wnuczka rysuje dla niego obrazek. - The grandson gives grandpa a funny present, and the granddaughter draws a picture for him.

Polish uses the dative case (komu? czemu? = to whom? for whom?) for the indirect object, especially with verbs like dawać / dać (to give).

dawać coś komuś = to give something to someone

So:

Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent.
= The grandson gives the grandfather a funny present.
Literally: The grandson gives *to the grandfather a funny present.*

You would use:

dziadek (nominative) as the subject:
Dziadek śpi. – Grandpa is sleeping.
dziadkowi (dative) as the indirect object:
Daję prezent dziadkowi. – I’m giving a present to grandpa.

What cases are prezent and obrazek in, and why do they look like the dictionary form?

Both prezent and obrazek are masculine inanimate nouns used as direct objects, so they are in the accusative singular.

For masculine inanimate nouns in Polish:

Nominative singular = Accusative singular (same form)

So:

(kto?) wnuk daje (co?) prezent.
prezent is accusative, but it looks like the nominative.
(kto?) wnuczka rysuje (co?) obrazek.
obrazek is also accusative, same form as nominative.

Compare with an animate masculine noun, where accusative ≠ nominative:

Nom: widzę dziadek – incorrect
Acc: widzę dziadka – correct (animate → accusative = genitive)

But:

Nom: to jest prezent
Acc: widzę prezent (same form, because it’s inanimate)

Why is it śmieszny prezent and not śmieszne prezent?

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

prezent is masculine singular, accusative (but same form as nominative).
The matching adjective ending in that context is -y: śmieszny.

So:

śmieszny prezent – a funny present (masc sg)
śmieszna wnuczka – a funny granddaughter (fem sg)
śmieszne dzieci – funny children (neuter plural or “not masculine personal” plural)

If the noun changed, the adjective would change too:

Nom sg: śmieszny prezent
Gen sg: śmiesznego prezentu
Dat sg: śmiesznemu prezentowi

What tense and aspect are daje and rysuje?

Both daje and rysuje are:

Present tense
Imperfective aspect

Verbs:

dawać (impf.) / dać (pf.) – to give
rysować (impf.) / narysować (pf.) – to draw

Forms in the sentence:

(on) daje – he gives / is giving
(ona) rysuje – she draws / is drawing

Imperfective (dawać, rysować):

Focus on the process or repeated action
Present tense exists: daje, rysuje
Can also express habitual actions:
Wnuk często daje dziadkowi prezenty. – The grandson often gives grandpa presents.

Perfective (dać, narysować):

Focus on a completed single action
No present tense of “real time” – only future:
Wnuk da dziadkowi prezent. – The grandson will give grandpa a present.
Wnuczka narysuje obrazek. – The granddaughter will draw a picture.

Why is the conjunction a used instead of i for “and”?

Polish has two common ways to say “and”: i and a.

i – simple addition, no contrast implied
Wnuk daje prezent i wnuczka rysuje obrazek.
Just lists actions.
a – often marks contrast or a change of subject / perspective
Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent, a wnuczka rysuje dla niego obrazek.
There’s a slight contrast: the grandson does X, *whereas the granddaughter does Y*.

In many cases, both are grammatically possible, but a sounds more natural when:

The subjects are different (wnuk vs wnuczka),
Or you’re showing a kind of “this, while that” relationship.

Why is it dla niego and not dla go?

Polish has different forms of pronouns depending on whether they stand alone or follow a preposition.

go is an unstressed clitic form, used without a preposition:
Widzę go. – I see him.
After a preposition, you must use the full/stressed form with n-:
dla niego, od niego, bez niego, u niego etc.

So:

dla niego – correct
dla go – incorrect

In general:

After a preposition → use forms like mnie, ciebie, niego, niej, nich, nim, nią etc.
bez mnie, do ciebie, od nich, z nim, dla niej...

Why does daje use dziadkowi, but dla uses dla niego instead of a dative form?

Different verbs and prepositions govern different cases in Polish:

dawać (komu? czemu?) uses dative:
- daje dziadkowi (gives to grandfather)
- daje wnuczce (gives to the granddaughter)
dla (kogo? czego?) always uses genitive:
- dla niego – for him (genitive of on)
- dla dziadka – for (the) grandfather (genitive of dziadek)
- dla wnuczki – for the granddaughter

So:

The verb daje requires dative → dziadkowi.
The preposition dla requires genitive → dla niego / dla dziadka.

You cannot mix this:
✗ daje dla dziadka prezent is only acceptable in some regional / colloquial speech; the standard is daje dziadkowi prezent.

Can I change the word order, e.g. Wnuk daje śmieszny prezent dziadkowi or wnuczka rysuje obrazek dla niego?

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible because case endings show who does what. All of these are grammatically correct:

Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent. (neutral, common)
Wnuk daje śmieszny prezent dziadkowi.
Śmieszny prezent daje wnuk dziadkowi. (emphasis on śmieszny prezent)

And in the second clause:

Wnuczka rysuje dla niego obrazek. (neutral, slight focus on for him)
Wnuczka rysuje obrazek dla niego. (neutral, slight focus on obrazek)

Rough tendencies:

S–V–O (subject–verb–object) is the most neutral.
Moving elements to the end of the sentence often gives them extra emphasis.
Fronting something (putting it earlier) can also mark it as the topic or emphasize contrast.

For learners, sticking to structures very close to the example is safest:

[Subject] [verb] [indirect object] [direct object]
Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent.
[Subject] [verb] [prepositional phrase] [direct object]
Wnuczka rysuje dla niego obrazek.

Does śmieszny always mean “funny” in a positive way?

Not always. Śmieszny can be:

Genuinely funny / amusing (similar to zabawny):
- śmieszny film – a funny movie
Silly, ridiculous, laughable (often negative):
- śmieszna cena – a ridiculously low price
- śmieszny człowiek – a ridiculous person (not a compliment)

In śmieszny prezent, it could mean:

A gift that makes people laugh (joke gift, humorous), or
A bit silly / ridiculous, depending on context and tone.

Zabawny is more clearly “funny / entertaining”, less “ridiculous”.

What is the nuance of obrazek compared with obraz or rysunek?

All three relate to pictures, but the nuances differ:

obraz
- Most often: painting (e.g., on canvas, an artwork)
- Also: religious icon, image.
rysunek
- Drawing (more technical-neutral word)
- Could be a kid’s drawing, a sketch, or a technical drawing.
obrazek
- Diminutive (-ek) → literally little picture
- Very often used for a small, simple picture, especially:
  - a child’s drawing,
  - a little picture in a book,
  - a small illustration.

In this sentence, obrazek fits nicely for a cute little drawing the granddaughter makes for her grandpa.

Why doesn’t Polish use any word for “a” or “the” in this sentence?

Polish has no articles like English a/an or the. Nouns appear without an article, and specificity is understood from context.

So wnuk, wnuczka, dziadek, prezent, obrazek can all mean:

a grandson / granddaughter / grandpa / present / picture
the grandson / granddaughter / grandpa / present / picture

depending on the situation.

In English we must choose:

The grandson gives his grandpa a funny present, and the granddaughter draws a picture for him.

In Polish, context and word order do the job; you just say:

Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent, a wnuczka rysuje dla niego obrazek.

In dla niego, who does niego most likely refer to?

Grammatically, niego could refer to any masculine singular person/thing mentioned earlier. In this specific sentence, the most natural interpretation is:

niego = dziadek (the grandfather)

So:

Wnuk daje dziadkowi śmieszny prezent, a wnuczka rysuje dla niego obrazek.
→ The granddaughter is drawing a picture for the grandfather.

If you wanted to make it crystal clear, you could repeat the noun:

… a wnuczka rysuje obrazek dla dziadka. – …and the granddaughter draws a picture for grandpa.

But usually the context is enough, and using dla niego avoids repeating dziadek immediately.