Learn Hardcore Polish: Wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie sprawiają, że jestem zrelaksowany i mam dobry humor. - Evening memories over tea make me feel relaxed and in a good mood.

wspomnienia – memories (noun, neuter plural, nominative)
wieczorne – evening (adjective, neuter plural, nominative, matching wspomnienia)

In Polish, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe, unlike in some languages where they follow the noun. So:

wieczorne wspomnienia = evening memories
If you said wspomnienia wieczorem, that would be more like memories in the evening (adverbial phrase), focusing on when you have the memories, not what kind they are. The sentence here describes the type of memories (evening-type memories), so an adjective is used.

Why is it “przy herbacie” and not something like “z herbatą” or “podczas herbaty”?

Przy herbacie literally means “by/with tea” in the sense of “over tea / while we’re having tea”—it’s a common idiomatic expression.

przy
- locative (herbata → herbacie) often means:
  - by, next to (location)
  - during / over something you’re doing together (like a meal, drink, activity)

So wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie = evening memories over tea / reminiscing in the evening while drinking tea.

Alternatives and nuances:

z herbatą – literally with tea, sounds more like tea as an ingredient or accompaniment (e.g. ciasto z herbatą = cake with tea, slightly odd).
podczas herbaty – during tea, grammatically fine, but more formal and less cozy/idiomatic than przy herbacie.

What form is “sprawiają”, and why is it plural?

Sprawiają is the 3rd person plural, present tense of sprawiać (imperfective verb) – to cause, to make, to bring about.

infinitive: sprawiać
3rd person singular: on/ona/ono sprawia – it causes
3rd person plural: oni/one sprawiają – they cause

It’s plural because the subject is plural:

wieczorne wspomnienia – memories (they)
Wieczorne wspomnienia … sprawiają – Evening memories make…

So we need the verb in plural to agree with wspomnienia.

What does the structure “sprawiają, że …” mean, and why is “że” used?

Sprawiają, że … is a very common Polish structure that corresponds to “cause / make (that) …” and introduces a full clause.

Pattern:

X sprawia/sprawiają, że Y (jest / się dzieje)
→ X makes it so that Y (is / happens).

In this sentence:

Wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie sprawiają, że jestem zrelaksowany…
Literally: Evening memories over tea cause that I am relaxed…
Natural English: Evening memories over tea make me relaxed…

The comma before że is obligatory in Polish, because że introduces a subordinate clause.

Why is it “jestem zrelaksowany” and not “jestem zrelaksowanym”?

In Polish, with the verb być (to be):

When you say what / how someone is using an adjective, you usually use the nominative:
- jestem zrelaksowany – I am relaxed
- ona jest zmęczona – she is tired
You use the instrumental (e.g. zrelaksowanym) when it functions more like a role, status, or profession:
- jestem nauczycielem – I am a teacher
- jestem kierownikiem – I am a manager

Here, zrelaksowany is just a state/quality, so nominative is correct:

jestem zrelaksowany, not jestem zrelaksowanym.

Is “zrelaksowany” a natural word in Polish, and how is it formed?

Yes, zrelaksowany is natural and widely used.

It comes from the verb relaksować się – to relax.
zrelaksowany is the past participle / adjective: relaxed.

Formation:

relaksować się (to relax) → zrelaksować się (perfective) → zrelaksowany (relaxed)
Masculine: zrelaksowany
Feminine: zrelaksowana
Neuter: zrelaksowane
Plural (personal masculine): zrelaksowani, etc.

The z- prefix often makes the verb perfective (completed action). So zrelaksowany implies having relaxed → being in a relaxed state.

Could you also say “wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie mnie relaksują” instead of “sprawiają, że jestem zrelaksowany”?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct and natural:

Wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie mnie relaksują.
= Evening memories over tea relax me.

Difference in feel:

sprawiają, że jestem zrelaksowany – focuses on the resulting state: they make me be relaxed.
mnie relaksują – focuses more directly on the action of relaxing.

Both are fine; the original is a bit more descriptive and “state-focused.”

Why is it “jestem zrelaksowany i mam dobry humor” and not “jestem zrelaksowany i jestem w dobrym humorze”?

Both versions are possible:

mam dobry humor – very common idiomatic phrase:
- Literally: I have good humor.
- Meaning: I’m in a good mood / I’m cheerful.
jestem w dobrym humorze – also correct:
- Literally: I am in a good humor.
- Meaning: I am in a good mood.

The sentence uses mam dobry humor because it’s:

shorter
very natural in everyday speech
flows well after jestem zrelaksowany.

You could say:

… że jestem zrelaksowany i mam dobry humor. (original)
… że jestem zrelaksowany i jestem w dobrym humorze. (slightly more formal/explicit)

What does “mam dobry humor” really mean? Is it about being funny?

Mam dobry humor does not mean “I am funny.”
It means:

I’m in a good mood / I feel cheerful.

Details:

humor in Polish often = mood in this expression.
So dobry humor = a good, positive mood.

If you wanted to say “I’m funny,” you’d use something like:

Jestem zabawny (for a man) / Jestem zabawna (for a woman).

Why is “wspomnienia” in this form, and what case is it?

Wspomnienia here is nominative plural, and it’s the subject of the sentence.

Noun:

singular: wspomnienie – a memory (neuter)
plural nominative: wspomnienia – memories

In the sentence:

Wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie – subject
sprawiają – verb
(że…) – what they cause

So the base subject phrase wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie is in the nominative.

Why is it “przy herbacie” (ending -cie) and not “przy herbata”?

Herbata is a feminine noun:

nominative singular: herbata – tea
locative singular: herbacie

The preposition przy requires the locative case:

przy + locative → przy herbacie

So:

przy herbacie – by/over tea
Not przy herbata, because that would wrongly use the nominative form instead of locative.

Could the word order be changed, e.g. “Wieczorne przy herbacie wspomnienia…”, and would it sound natural?

You can play with word order in Polish, but not all permutations sound natural.

Wieczorne wspomnienia przy herbacie – natural and standard.
Wieczorne przy herbacie wspomnienia – grammatically possible, but sounds a bit marked/poetic or awkward in everyday speech.

Normally, you keep:

adjective + noun together: wieczorne wspomnienia
then extra phrase: przy herbacie

So the original order is the most natural in neutral, conversational Polish.