Learn Hardcore Polish: W niedzielę babcia i dziadek czekają na wnuka. - On Sunday grandma and grandpa wait for their grandson.

w + locative – for location in space
- w domu – in the house
- w szkole – at school
w + accusative – for time (when something happens)
- w poniedziałek – on Monday
- w styczniu – in January
- w tym roku – this year
- w niedzielę – on Sunday

W niedzieli is grammatically possible but very rare and would sound odd here; it would only appear in some fixed phrases or very specific, abstract contexts, not for simple “on Sunday”.

Why is there no word for the in babcia i dziadek and wnuka? How do I know it means the grandmother, the grandfather, the grandson?

Polish has no articles at all – no a / an / the.

babcia i dziadek can mean:
- a grandmother and a grandfather
- the grandmother and the grandfather
  depending only on context, not on grammar.
wnuka can mean:
- a grandson
- the grandson.

Polish listeners infer whether it’s “a” or “the” from what has been said before or from the situation:

In a typical family context, W niedzielę babcia i dziadek czekają na wnuka will naturally be understood as:
- On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for *their grandson.*

Why do we say czekają na wnuka instead of just czekają wnuka?

In Polish, the verb czekać (to wait) almost always needs the preposition na:

czekać na kogoś / na coś – to wait for someone / something
- czekać na autobus – to wait for the bus
- czekać na lekarza – to wait for the doctor
- czekać na wnuka – to wait for the grandson

Saying czekać wnuka (without na) is wrong in standard Polish. The preposition na is part of the verb’s structure in this meaning, similar to English wait for.

What case is wnuka, and why isn’t it just wnuk?

Wnuka is accusative singular masculine animate.

Dictionary (nominative) form: wnuk – grandson
Accusative singular (for a male person or animal): wnuka

In Polish, for masculine animate nouns, the accusative form is the same as the genitive:

nominative: wnuk
genitive: wnuka
accusative: wnuka

Why accusative here?
Because na + noun, in this structure with czekać na, takes the accusative:

czekać na kogo? co? (accusative questions)
- na wnuka
- na autobus
- na przyjaciela

So wnuk → wnuka in this sentence.

Why is it babcia i dziadek czekają and not czeka?

The verb must agree with the subject. Here the subject is two people:

babcia (grandmother) – feminine, singular
dziadek (grandfather) – masculine, singular

Together: babcia i dziadek → they, so you need 3rd person plural:

oni czekają – they (mixed / masculine group) are waiting
babcia i dziadek czekają – Grandma and Grandpa are waiting

Formally:

czeka – 3rd person singular (he/she/it waits)
czekają – 3rd person plural (they wait)

Because there are two people, czekają is required.

Why does the verb end in -ają? What does czekają tell me about the subject?

The ending -ają is a 3rd person plural ending used for masculine personal groups (a group that includes at least one male person).

oni czekają – they wait / are waiting (at least one male person in the group)
one czekają – they wait (all female or non‑personal plural like things or animals; same form in this verb)

Key point:
In Polish, if the group includes any male human, you use masculine personal plural. That’s why with babcia i dziadek (a woman + a man), you use oni czekają, not something else.

Can czekają mean will be waiting (future), or is it only are waiting (present)?

In this sentence, czekają is grammatically present tense, but in Polish the present tense of an imperfective verb (like czekać) can often refer to the near future, especially when there is a time expression:

W niedzielę babcia i dziadek czekają na wnuka.
→ Usually understood as On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa will be waiting for the grandson (a planned future).

You can also make the future more explicit:

W niedzielę babcia i dziadek będą czekać na wnuka. – will be waiting
W niedzielę babcia i dziadek poczekają na wnuka. – they will wait (for some time, perfective aspect)

But the simple present czekają with a time expression like w niedzielę is very natural for talking about scheduled or planned future actions.

Can I change the word order? For example: Babcia i dziadek w niedzielę czekają na wnuka or Na wnuka w niedzielę czekają babcia i dziadek?

Yes. Polish word order is relatively flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct, with slightly different emphasis:

W niedzielę babcia i dziadek czekają na wnuka.
– Neutral; light emphasis on Sunday (setting the time first).
Babcia i dziadek w niedzielę czekają na wnuka.
– More neutral/family-story style; focus first on who.
Babcia i dziadek czekają w niedzielę na wnuka.
– Similar; the time is inserted in the middle; often still neutral.
Na wnuka w niedzielę czekają babcia i dziadek.
– Stronger emphasis on na wnuka (it’s the grandson, not someone else).

All of these mean the same basic thing. The sentence in your example is just a very typical, natural ordering.

Why is it w niedzielę and not na niedzielę? What’s the difference?

Both w niedzielę and na niedzielę exist, but they mean different things:

w niedzielę – literally in / on Sunday, used to say when something happens:
- W niedzielę babcia i dziadek czekają na wnuka.
  – On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for the grandson.
na niedzielę – literally for Sunday, usually about a deadline, purpose, or time by which something will be ready:
- Upiekę ciasto na niedzielę.
  – I’ll bake a cake for Sunday.
- Muszę przygotować prezentację na niedzielę.
  – I have to prepare the presentation for Sunday.

In your sentence, we’re talking about when they are waiting, so w niedzielę is the correct choice.

Does wnuk mean only grandson, or can it also mean a general grandchild? And how would you say granddaughter?

Primarily:

wnuk – grandson (male)
wnuczka – granddaughter (female)

In some contexts, especially in the plural, wnuk / wnuki can be used more generally for grandchildren:

Mam troje wnuków.
– I have three grandchildren.
(Often, you don’t know from this alone if they’re all boys.)

In your sentence:

czekają na wnuka – they are waiting for the grandson (a boy, or at least grammatically masculine).

If it were a granddaughter, you would say:

W niedzielę babcia i dziadek czekają na wnuczkę. – On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for their granddaughter.