W każdą sobotę ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na herbatę.

Every Saturday my aunt and uncle come to us for tea.

Breakdown of W każdą sobotę ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na herbatę.

• i: and
• herbata: the tea
• do: to
• na: for
• nas: us
• w każdą sobotę: every Saturday
• ciocia: the aunt
• wujek: the uncle
• przychodzić: to come

Questions & Answers about W każdą sobotę ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na herbatę.

Why is it w każdą sobotę and not w każda sobota?

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

• sobota = feminine, singular
• In this sentence it answers when? (time), which usually takes the accusative case.
• Feminine singular accusative of każda is każdą.
• Feminine singular accusative of sobota is sobotę.

So you need:

• każda → każdą
• sobota → sobotę

Hence: w każdą sobotę (on every Saturday).

Why does w sometimes use the accusative (like w każdą sobotę) and sometimes the locative (like w szkole)?

The preposition w can govern two different cases, depending on meaning:

1. Locative (miejscownik) – for static location (where something is):

   • w szkole – in (at) school
   • w domu – at home
   • w pokoju – in the room

2. Accusative (biernik) – frequently for time expressions (when something happens) and also sometimes direction:

   • w sobotę – on Saturday (time)
   • w każdą sobotę – every Saturday (time)
   • w przyszły poniedziałek – next Monday

In your sentence, w każdą sobotę tells you when something happens, so w takes the accusative.

Why is it sobotę and not sobota or soboty?

Base form: sobota (nominative singular).

Here it is part of a time expression with w, answering when? — that typically uses the accusative singular:

• nominative: sobota
• accusative: sobotę

You could also say:

• w soboty – on Saturdays (in general), plural
• w każdą sobotę – on every Saturday, individually emphasizing each one

So:

• w soboty – a general habitual statement
• w każdą sobotę – still habitual, but with a slight nuance of each and every Saturday, without exception.

Why is it każdą sobotę and not każdą sobotą?

These are two different cases:

• każdą sobotę – accusative (biernik) → time expression, when?
• każdą sobotą – instrumental (narzędnik) → with what? / by means of what?

In this context, we want to say on every Saturday → time → accusative.

Something like każdą sobotą would sound like by every Saturday and doesn’t fit this meaning.

Can I move w każdą sobotę to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Polish word order is relatively flexible. All of these are grammatically correct and natural, with slight differences in emphasis:

• W każdą sobotę ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na herbatę.
  – Neutral, emphasizes the time at the beginning.

• Ciocia i wujek w każdą sobotę przychodzą do nas na herbatę.
  – Still neutral; time element is in the middle.

• Ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na herbatę w każdą sobotę.
  – Puts the time at the end, often felt as additional or contrasting information.

All three sound fine in everyday speech.

Why is it przychodzą and not something like przychodzią?

Przychodzić is an -ić type verb. Its 3rd person plural present form is:

• ja: przychodzę
• ty: przychodzisz
• on/ona/ono: przychodzi
• my: przychodzimy
• wy: przychodzicie
• oni/one: przychodzą

The ending for 3rd person plural is -ą, not -ią or -ią-type endings here. So:

• ciocia i wujek przychodzą = aunt and uncle come (regularly).

Przychodzią is simply incorrect in Polish.

Why is the present tense przychodzą used to mean “come every Saturday”? Shouldn’t it be some kind of “usually come” form?

Polish uses the present tense of an imperfective verb to express:

• actions happening now, and
• habits / repeated actions.

So przychodzą naturally means:

• they are coming (right now), or
• they (regularly) come.

Context decides which one is meant. Because you have w każdą sobotę, it clearly means a repeated habitual action:

• W każdą sobotę ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na herbatę.
  = Aunt and uncle come (every Saturday) to us for tea.

You do not need an extra word like “usually”; the present tense already covers the habitual meaning when combined with a time phrase like this.

What is the difference between przychodzą and chodzą here?

Both could describe repeated visits, but with nuances:

• przychodzą – from przychodzić “to come (on foot), to arrive”.

  • Focus on the act of coming to a specific destination.
  • Here: they come to us.

• chodzą – from chodzić “to go (on foot), to walk (repeatedly / habitually)”.

  • More general: to go somewhere regularly or to walk around.
  • Ciocia i wujek chodzą do nas na herbatę. – They regularly go to us for tea (also correct, but a bit more abstract, stressing the pattern rather than each arrival).

Both sentences are understandable; przychodzą feels a bit more natural when you think of each individual visit as an act of coming.

Why is it do nas, not do my?

My is the nominative form of the pronoun “we”.

The preposition do (“to, towards, to the place of”) requires the genitive (dopełniacz). Genitive of my is nas.

Pronoun forms:

• Nominative: my – we (subject)
• Genitive: nas – of us / to us (after many prepositions, including do)

So:

• do nas – to us
• do mnie – to me
• do ciebie – to you (singular)
• do niego – to him / to it
• do niej – to her

Therefore, do nas is the correct form after do.

Why is it do nas but na herbatę? What is the difference between do and na here?

They express different relationships:

• do

  • genitive → movement towards a person or place:
  • iść do domu – to go home
  • przychodzić do nas – to come to us
  • jechać do miasta – to go to the city

• na

  • accusative → often expresses purpose / occasion (among other uses):
  • przyjść na obiad – to come for lunch
  • pójść na koncert – to go to a concert
  • przyjść na herbatę – to come for tea

So the sentence literally divides into:

• przychodzą do nas – they come to us (to our place)
• na herbatę – for tea (for the occasion of drinking tea)

Together: they come to us for tea.

Why is it na herbatę and not na herbata or na herbacie?

Base form: herbata (nominative singular).

Here, na is used in the sense of for (the purpose of), which requires the accusative:

• nominative: herbata
• accusative: herbatę

So we say:

• na herbatę – for tea (as an event/occasion)
• na obiad – for lunch
• na kawę – for coffee

Na herbacie would be locative (miejscownik) and normally means something like on the tea or (in some contexts) during the tea meeting, but not as the standard way to say “for tea (to drink tea)”.

Could I say ciocia i wujek przychodzą do nas na kawę instead of na herbatę?

Grammatically, yes. The structure stays the same:

• na herbatę – for tea
• na kawę – for coffee

Both herbatę and kawę are feminine singular accusative forms after na used in the purpose sense.

The only thing that changes is what you are drinking. The grammar is identical.

Are ciocia and wujek the only words for “aunt” and “uncle”? What about ciotka and wuj?

Polish has a few options:

• ciocia – very common, warm, often used for both real aunts and close family friends (“auntie”).

• ciotka – more neutral or even slightly cold/old-fashioned in some contexts; used, but less “nice” in tone.

• wujek – very common, warm, like “uncle”.
• wuj – more formal/archaic/literary in everyday speech, but still understood.

In your sentence, ciocia i wujek is the natural, everyday way to say aunt and uncle.