Learn Hardcore Polish: Latarka leży na półce w pokoju. - The flashlight is lying on the shelf in the room.

leżeć = to lie / to be lying (object is lying flat or just “located somewhere”)
stać = to stand / to be standing (upright position)
wisieć = to hang / to be hanging

In Latarka leży na półce w pokoju, leży literally means is lying, but in practice it often just means is (located) there.

You could say Latarka jest na półce w pokoju, and it would be correct, but:

leży gives a bit more information about how the flashlight is positioned.
jest is more neutral and slightly less natural here in everyday Polish, though still acceptable.

What case is półce, and why does it have that ending?

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

Basic form (nominative): półka (shelf)
Locative singular: półce

The locative is used after some prepositions, mainly na (on) and w (in), when we are talking about location (not movement).

For feminine nouns ending in -ka, the locative singular ending is usually -ce:

półka → na półce (on the shelf)
polka → na polce (on the polka, grammatically speaking)
włoska → o Włoszce (about the Italian woman)

So na półce literally means on the shelf, with półce in the locative.

Why is it na półce and not na półkę?

The preposition na can take locative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

na
- locative → static location (where something is)
  - Latarka leży na półce. = The flashlight is lying on the shelf.
na
- accusative → movement onto a surface (where something is going)
  - Kładę latarkę na półkę. = I am putting the flashlight onto the shelf.

In your sentence, the flashlight is already there (no movement), so we use locative:

na półce, not na półkę.

What case is w pokoju, and why does it end in -u?

Pokoju is also in the locative case.

Basic form (nominative): pokój (room)
Locative singular: pokoju

After w (in) with a static location (where something is), we use the locative:

w pokoju = in the room
w sklepie = in the shop
w szkole = at school

The -u ending is a regular locative ending for many masculine nouns, especially those ending in -ój:

pokój → w pokoju
nój (as in some surnames) → w Noju (pattern-wise)

So w pokoju means in the room, with pokoju in the locative case.

Why is it w pokoju and not w pokój?

As with na, the preposition w can take locative or accusative:

w
- locative → static location (where something is)
  - Latarka leży w pokoju. = The flashlight is lying in the room.
w
- accusative → movement into something (where something is going)
  - Wchodzę w pokój. = I’m going into the room.

In your sentence, we are talking about where the flashlight is (no movement), so w pokoju (locative) is correct, not w pokój (accusative).

What is the gender of latarka, and does it affect anything in this sentence?

Latarka (flashlight/torch) is feminine.

Signs:

It ends in -a in the nominative singular, which is typical for feminine nouns.
Its basic form (dictionary form) is latarka.

In this specific sentence:

The verb leży does not change with gender in the present tense, so you don’t see gender explicitly.
If you added adjectives, they would show feminine agreement:
- Mała latarka leży na półce. = The small flashlight is lying on the shelf.
  - mała (feminine) agrees with latarka.

Could I change the word order, like Na półce w pokoju leży latarka? Is that still correct?

Yes, Polish word order is quite flexible, and several versions are grammatical:

Latarka leży na półce w pokoju. (neutral: topic = flashlight)
Na półce w pokoju leży latarka. (emphasis on the location: on the shelf in the room there is a flashlight)
W pokoju na półce leży latarka. (slightly different rhythm, also emphasizing location)

All are correct. The default, neutral order is usually Subject – Verb – Place:

Latarka leży na półce w pokoju.

When you move elements to the front, you usually emphasize them.

What is the difference between leży, stoi, and jest for objects?

These verbs all can translate to is, but they add information about position:

leżeć (leży) – to lie, be lying
- objects lying flat, or just neutrally located:
- Książka leży na stole. = The book is lying on the table.
stać (stoi) – to stand, be standing
- upright objects:
- Butelka stoi na stole. = The bottle is standing on the table.
być (jest) – to be
- neutral existence/location:
- Książka jest na stole. = The book is on the table.

Native speakers often prefer leży/stoi/wisieć instead of jest when they picture the object physically placed somewhere.

For a flashlight, leży is the natural choice, because it’s usually lying flat.

What is the difference between półka and półce?

They are different cases of the same noun:

półka – nominative singular (dictionary form, subject form)
- Półka jest wysoka. = The shelf is high.
półce – locative singular (after certain prepositions, like na for location)
- Książka leży na półce. = The book is lying on the shelf.

So półka is the base form, and półce is the “on the shelf / in the shelf” form used after na when talking about location.

How is w pronounced in w pokoju? Is it like English v or w?

Polish w is pronounced like English v.

So w pokoju sounds approximately like:

[f po-KO-yu] or [v po-KO-yu], depending on the speaker and assimilation.

Because w is followed by a voiceless consonant p, it often gets de-voiced and sounds closer to f:

w pokoju → [f pokoju] in fast speech.

But you should think of Polish w as a v-sound phonemically.

Why is there no word for the or a in Latarka leży na półce w pokoju?

Polish does not have articles like English a, an, the.

Latarka can mean a flashlight, the flashlight, or just flashlight in general.
The context usually tells you whether it is definite or indefinite.

For example:

Latarka leży na półce.
- could be: The flashlight is on the shelf.
- or: A flashlight is on the shelf.

Polish relies on context, word order, and sometimes demonstratives (like ta, ta latarka = this flashlight) instead of articles.

Could I drop w pokoju and just say Latarka leży na półce?

Yes, absolutely.

Latarka leży na półce. = The flashlight is lying on the shelf.
Latarka leży na półce w pokoju. = The flashlight is lying on the shelf in the room.

W pokoju simply adds extra information about where the shelf is. Without it, the sentence is still complete and correct; you just lose that detail.

How would this sentence look in the plural, if there are several flashlights?

For the plural, both the subject and the verb change:

Singular:
- Latarka leży na półce w pokoju.
  = The flashlight is lying on the shelf in the room.
Plural:
- Latarki leżą na półce w pokoju.
  = The flashlights are lying on the shelf in the room.

Changes:

latarka → latarki (nominative plural, feminine)
leży → leżą (3rd person plural form of leżeć)

The prepositional phrase na półce w pokoju stays the same, because it refers to location, not number.