Learn Hardcore Polish: W szkole średniej miałem pierwszy poważny egzamin z matematyki. - In high school I had my first serious exam in mathematics.

The preposition w (in) usually takes the locative case when it answers the question “where?” (where something happens or is located).
The base (dictionary) form is szkoła średnia (nominative case, used for the subject).
After w, we must use the locative:
- szkoła → w szkole
- średnia → średniej (the adjective agrees with the noun in case, number, and gender)

So:
w szkole średniej = in (the) high school (locative)
szkoła średnia = a/the high school (nominative, used as subject)

What case are szkole and średniej in, and how can I recognize it?

Both szkole and średniej are in the locative singular.

Patterns to notice:

Feminine noun ending in -a in nominative:
- szkoła → locative w szkole
Feminine adjective ending in -a in nominative:
- średnia → locative średniej

The locative is relatively rare: you mainly see it after certain prepositions, especially:

w (in), na (on/at), o (about), etc.

So if you see w + [noun/adjective] and the form looks like -e / -ie / -u / -y / -ej, there’s a good chance it’s locative.

What exactly does szkoła średnia correspond to in English – is it “high school” or something else?

Szkoła średnia is usually translated as high school or secondary school, depending on the context:

In a Polish context, szkoła średnia is the level of schooling after primary school and before university (e.g. liceum, technikum).
In American English, high school is the closest equivalent.
In British English, secondary school or upper secondary school could be used, depending on the school system.

So w szkole średniej is best understood as in high school (in a general, non-technical sense).

Why is the verb miałem used here? Could you use something like był or zdawałem instead?

Miałem comes from mieć = to have.

In this sentence, miałem egzamin literally means I had an exam (there was an exam that I had to take).

Alternatives and nuances:

miałem egzamin – neutral: I had an exam.
zdawałem egzamin – I was taking/sitting an exam (focus on the act of taking it, process).
był egzamin – there was an exam (no clear subject “I” having it, more impersonal).

In the original sentence, the focus is on the speaker’s personal experience:
miałem pierwszy poważny egzamin – I had my first serious exam.

How does miałem change with gender and person (for a woman, for “we”, etc.)?

Past tense forms in Polish agree with person and gender (in the singular).
For the verb mieć (to have), masculine vs. feminine:

1st person singular (I)
- masculine speaker: miałem
- feminine speaker: miałam
2nd person singular (you)
- masculine: miałeś
- feminine: miałaś

Plural (no gender distinction in the form itself, but there are masculine-personal vs. non-masculine-personal endings):

1st person plural (we)
- group with at least one man: mieliśmy
- all women / no men: miałyśmy
3rd person plural (they)
- group with at least one man: mieli
- all women / no men: miały

So a woman would say:
W szkole średniej miałam pierwszy poważny egzamin z matematyki.

Why is it pierwszy poważny egzamin, not poważny pierwszy egzamin?

In Polish, the typical adjective order is:

Ordinal numerals (first, second, third…)
Descriptive adjectives (serious, difficult, interesting…)
Noun

So:

pierwszy poważny egzamin = first serious exam (natural order)
poważny pierwszy egzamin is grammatically possible, but sounds unusual and marked; it could suggest some special emphasis, and most native speakers would avoid it in normal speech.

In regular, neutral Polish, place ordinal numerals like pierwszy, drugi, trzeci before adjectives such as poważny, ważny, trudny.

What case is pierwszy poważny egzamin, and how do I know the endings?

Egzamin is the direct object of miałem (I had what? → exam), so it must be in the accusative case.

Noun: egzamin (masculine, inanimate)
- Nominative: egzamin
- Accusative: egzamin (for masculine inanimate, accusative = nominative)

The adjectives must agree with the noun:

Base form (nominative masculine singular):
- pierwszy, poważny
Accusative for masculine inanimate looks the same as nominative:
- pierwszy poważny egzamin (no change on the surface)

So even though the form doesn’t change visibly here, grammatically this phrase is in the accusative.

The preposition z usually means “from”. Why does z matematyki mean “in math / of math” here?

The preposition z is very flexible. Its meaning depends on context. Common meanings:

from, out of – wyszedłem z domu (I went out of the house)
with (instrumental) – kanapka z serem (sandwich with cheese)
of, in (as a school subject) – egzamin z matematyki (exam in math)

In school contexts, z + [subject in genitive] means the subject of the test/lesson/exam:

egzamin z matematyki – an exam in mathematics
test z historii – a test in history
klasówka z biologii – a quiz in biology

So z matematyki is best understood here as in mathematics, not literally “from mathematics”.

What case is matematyki in, and how does it decline?

Matematyka is a feminine noun (ending in -a in the nominative singular).

In z matematyki, it’s in the genitive singular, because the preposition z in this meaning (“in/as a subject”) takes the genitive.

Basic singular forms:

Nominative: matematyka – subject form (Mathematics is hard. → Matematyka jest trudna.)
Genitive: matematyki – after z, of math / in math
(egzamin z matematyki)
Dative: matematyce
Accusative: matematykę
Instrumental: matematyką
Locative: (o) matematyce – about math

So z matematyki = in/of mathematics (genitive singular).

Can I change the word order, for example: Miałem w szkole średniej pierwszy poważny egzamin z matematyki?

Yes. Polish has relatively flexible word order, and your example is acceptable.

Some common variants:

W szkole średniej miałem pierwszy poważny egzamin z matematyki.
– Neutral, slightly emphasizing the time/place (“In high school, I had…”).
Miałem w szkole średniej pierwszy poważny egzamin z matematyki.
– Still natural; focus starts with “I had…”, then adds where.
Miałem pierwszy poważny egzamin z matematyki w szkole średniej.
– Focus more on the exam itself, then add when/where.

Meaning stays the same; differences are mostly about emphasis and information flow, not about grammar or correctness.

Is mieć (as in miałem) perfective or imperfective, and does aspect matter here?

Mieć (to have) is an imperfective verb.

Imperfective: describes states, repeated or ongoing actions, or simply states facts.
Perfective: usually focuses on completed, one-time events (to do something once / to finish doing it).

For mieć, the imperfective is normally used; there is no everyday perfective partner that would mean “have once / have completely”. So in the past, you say:

miałem egzamin – I had an exam (state/situation that occurred in the past).

Aspect is important in Polish, but here you don’t really have a natural perfective alternative; miałem is simply the correct choice.

How do you pronounce średniej, and what does the soft ś represent?

Średniej is pronounced roughly like:

śr – like sh in “she”, but softer and more “hissy”, plus an r after it
e – like e in “bet”
dń – a soft d plus a palatal ń (like ny in “canyon”)
ej – like ey in “they”

Approximate phonetic transcription: [ɕˈrɛdɲɛj]

The letter ś is a soft (palatalized) “sh” sound:

s = like English s in “see”
sz = like English sh in “ship” (harder)
ś = a softer, more “hissing” sh, with the tongue closer to the hard palate

So średniej starts with this soft ś, not with a hard sz.