W piwnicy stoi stary rower.

In the basement there is an old bicycle.

Breakdown of W piwnicy stoi stary rower.

• w: in
• rower: the bicycle
• stary: old
• stać: to stand
• piwnica: the basement

Questions & Answers about W piwnicy stoi stary rower.

Why does the sentence start with “W piwnicy” instead of putting it at the end?

Polish word order is fairly flexible, and you often start with where or when to set the scene.

• W piwnicy stoi stary rower. – Literally: In the basement stands an old bike.
  Neutral: focuses on what is in the basement.

You can also say:

• Stary rower stoi w piwnicy. – Focuses more on the bike and then says where it is.
• Stoi stary rower w piwnicy. – Possible, but more marked/unusual; might sound poetic or stylistic.

So starting with W piwnicy is natural when you want to talk about what is in the basement.

What case is “piwnicy”, and why isn’t it “piwnica”?

Piwnicy is in the locative case (Polish: miejscownik).

• The basic dictionary form is piwnica (nominative singular, “basement”).
• After the preposition w (“in”) with a static location (no motion), Polish uses the locative:
  • w piwnicy – in the basement (where something is)
  • w szkole – at school
  • w domu – at home/in the house

So:

• piwnica → w piwnicy (locative, because it answers “where?”).

Why do we use “stoi” (“stands”) and not just “jest” (“is”)?

Polish very often uses “posture” or “position” verbs instead of a neutral “is” when talking about where objects are:

• stać – to stand (stoi – “(it) stands”)
• leżeć – to lie (leży – “(it) lies”)
• wisieć – to hang (wisi – “(it) hangs”)
• siedzieć – to sit (siedzi – “(it) sits”)

A bike naturally stands upright, so:

• W piwnicy stoi stary rower. – literally “An old bike stands in the basement.”

You can say:

• W piwnicy jest stary rower. – “There is an old bike in the basement.”

This is also correct and neutral; stoi just gives a bit more physical detail (the bike is upright, standing there).

Could I say “W piwnicy jest stary rower” instead? Is it wrong?

It’s not wrong at all; it’s perfectly correct:

• W piwnicy jest stary rower. – There is an old bike in the basement.
• W piwnicy stoi stary rower. – An old bike is standing in the basement.

Differences:

• jest – neutral existence / location (“it is there”).
• stoi – also existence, but with a visual / positional nuance (it is there and standing).

Both are natural; stoi just paints a slightly clearer picture.

Why is there no Polish word for “there” as in “There is an old bike in the basement”?

English uses “there is / there are” as a special “existence” pattern.
Polish doesn’t; it just uses a normal verb:

• W piwnicy jest stary rower. – literally In (the) basement is an old bike.
• W piwnicy stoi stary rower. – literally In (the) basement stands an old bike.

Polish doesn’t need a separate “there”; the idea of “there is” is carried by jest/stoi/leży etc. and the word order.

What person and number is “stoi”, and why not “stoją”?

Stoi is 3rd person singular, present tense of stać (“to stand”):

• ja – stoję (I stand)
• ty – stoisz (you stand, sg.)
• on/ona/ono – stoi (he/she/it stands)
• my – stoimy (we stand)
• wy – stoicie (you stand, pl.)
• oni/one – stoją (they stand)

The subject is stary rower – that’s one bike, so the verb must be singular:

• stary rower stoi – an old bike stands
• stare rowery stoją – old bikes stand

So stoi, not stoją.

What case is “stary rower” in, and why?

Stary rower is in the nominative case (mianownik).

• The subject of a sentence in Polish normally uses the nominative.
• Here, the subject is “stary rower” (the thing doing the “standing”).
• The verb stoi agrees with that nominative subject.

So:

• (Kto? Co?) stary rower – nominative, subject
• (Gdzie?) w piwnicy – locative, after w for static location

Why is it “stary rower” and not “rower stary”?

In Polish, the normal order inside a noun phrase is:

adjective + noun

So:

• stary rower – an old bike (neutral, normal)
• rower stary – bike old (unusual; sounds poetic, emphatic, or stylistically marked)

You can move the adjective after the noun to stress it or in very literary language:

• rower stary, zardzewiały i zapomniany – (a) bike, old, rusty and forgotten

In everyday speech, you almost always put the adjective before the noun: stary rower.

Why is it “stary” and not “stara” or “stare”?

Adjectives in Polish agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Rower is:

• masculine, inanimate
• singular
• nominative

So the correct form of stary for masculine singular nominative is stary:

• stary rower – old bike (masculine)
• stara piwnica – old basement (feminine)
• stare okno – old window (neuter)
• stare rowery – old bikes (plural)

That’s why it must be stary rower here.

What is the gender of “rower”, and how does it affect the sentence?

Rower is a masculine inanimate noun.

This affects:

1. Adjective agreement:

   • masculine singular nominative → stary rower
   • if it were feminine, you’d say stara (e.g. stara piwnica).

2. Verb agreement (if needed in other tenses):

   • In the past tense, masculine singular often ends in -ł:
     • Rower stał w piwnicy. – The bike stood in the basement.
   • Feminine would be:
     • Piwnica była stara. – The basement was old.

In this present‑tense sentence, gender shows up mainly in stary.

What tense and aspect is “stoi”?

Stoi is:

• present tense
• imperfective aspect
• 3rd person singular of stać (“to stand”).

Imperfective aspect in Polish typically describes:

• ongoing states and actions,
• habitual or repeated actions.

Here it describes the current state:

• W piwnicy stoi stary rower. – Right now (and generally), an old bike is standing in the basement.

Why doesn’t Polish use any article like “a” or “the” in “stary rower”?

Polish has no articles (no equivalents of a/an or the).

• stary rower can mean:
  • an old bike
  • the old bike
  • just old bike in general

Definiteness is inferred from:

• context (do we already know this bike?)
• sometimes word order and stress

So here, depending on context, W piwnicy stoi stary rower could be translated as:

• There is an old bike in the basement.
• The old bike is in the basement. (if speaker and listener both know which bike)