Learn Hardcore Polish: Śpiew ptaków rano jest miły, a hałas ulicy lub tramwaju jest bardzo głośny. - The singing of birds in the morning is nice, and the noise of the street or the tram is very loud.

you’d just state a fact, without explicitly describing that singing as nice. So śpiew is used as a noun so you can describe it with jest miły.

Why is it ptaków and not ptaki after śpiew?

Because ptaków is in the genitive plural, and this is the normal way in Polish to say “the singing of birds”:

śpiew ptaków = the singing of birds / birds’ singing

Pattern:

śpiew kogo? czego? (genitive) → śpiew ptaków
(singing of what? of whom? → of birds)

Using ptaki (nominative) would be incorrect here; ptaki would be the subject of a verb (e.g. ptaki śpiewają). After a noun like śpiew, you need the genitive to show possession or source.

What case are the main nouns in: śpiew, ptaków, rano, hałas, ulicy, tramwaju?

śpiew – nominative singular (subject)
ptaków – genitive plural (of birds)
rano – adverb (not declined here; means in the morning)
hałas – nominative singular (subject)
ulicy – genitive singular (of the street)
tramwaju – genitive singular (of the tram)

So structurally you have:

Śpiew (NOM) ptaków (GEN) rano jest miły.
Hałas (NOM) ulicy (GEN) lub tramwaju (GEN) jest bardzo głośny.

Why is it rano with no preposition, and not something like w rano?

Rano works like an adverb of time meaning in the morning. No preposition is needed:

rano – in the morning
wieczorem – in the evening
nocą – at night

Saying w rano is incorrect. You could also say:

rankiem – also in the morning, a bit more formal/literary.

But in everyday language, rano alone is the standard form.

Why is it miły and not miła, miłe, etc.?

Adjectives in Polish agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe.

śpiew is masculine singular, nominative.
So the adjective must also be masculine singular, nominative → miły.

Examples:

śpiew (on) jest miły – the singing is nice.
muzyka (ona) jest miła – the music is nice.
dźwięki (one) są miłe – the sounds are nice.

Changing śpiew to another noun would change the adjective:

Muzyka ptaków rano jest miła. (muzyka is feminine → miła)

What is the difference between a, i, and ale, and why is a used here?

Polish has several conjunctions that all can translate as and/but, but they have different nuances:

i – and (neutral addition, just joining things)
a – mild contrast or change of topic (while / whereas)
ale – but (clearer opposition)

In the sentence:

Śpiew ptaków rano jest miły, a hałas ulicy lub tramwaju jest bardzo głośny.

a contrasts something pleasant with something unpleasant:

pleasant: śpiew ptaków
unpleasant: hałas ulicy lub tramwaju

You could use ale to make the contrast stronger:

…, ale hałas ulicy… – but the noise… (more clearly “opposite”)

Using i would sound like you’re just listing two facts, with less contrast.

Why are ulicy and tramwaju in the genitive case?

This is the same pattern as with śpiew ptaków:

hałas czego? kogo? (genitive) → hałas ulicy, hałas tramwaju

So:

hałas ulicy = the noise of the street
hałas tramwaju = the noise of the tram

It’s a noun + noun relationship where the second noun describes source, possession, or belonging, which commonly uses the genitive in Polish.

Why is it lub and not albo?

Both lub and albo can translate as or, but:

lub – neutral or, often used in writing, descriptions, lists.
albo – also or, often more colloquial; can sometimes imply a more either/or choice.

In this sentence:

hałas ulicy lub tramwaju – the noise of the street or of the tram

lub simply connects two possible sources of noise, in a neutral, slightly more “bookish” style. You could say albo here as well; it would still be correct, just a bit more conversational.

Why is it bardzo głośny and not bardzo głośno?

głośny – adjective: loud (describes a noun)
głośno – adverb: loudly (describes a verb, the way something is done)

In the sentence:

hałas … jest bardzo głośny – the noise is very loud

You’re describing hałas (a noun), so you need an adjective: głośny.

Examples:

Ten hałas jest głośny. – This noise is loud.
Dzieci głośno śpiewają. – The children sing loudly. (how they sing → adverb)

Why is hałas singular here? In English we might say “noises”.

Polish often uses a singular abstract noun where English might use a plural:

hałas = noise (as a general phenomenon, uncountable sense)
Hałas ulicy jest bardzo głośny.
Literally: The noise of the street is very loud.

You could say hałasy (plural), but that usually suggests:

different separate noises,
or a more colloquial sense like “a racket / commotion”.

Here, hałas as a singular “mass” noun (noise in general) is more natural.

Can I change the word order, like Rano śpiew ptaków jest miły?

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English because meaning is largely carried by endings (cases), not by position.

You could say:

Rano śpiew ptaków jest miły.
Rano miły jest śpiew ptaków. (more poetic/emphatic)
Śpiew ptaków jest miły rano. (emphasis on in the morning)

All are grammatically possible; what changes is mostly emphasis and style, not core meaning.
The original order is very natural and neutral.

How do you pronounce tricky words like Śpiew, ptaków, hałas, ulicy, tramwaju?

Brief pronunciation guide (approximate):

Śpiew – [shpyef]
- Ś like soft sh in “she”, but more palatal.
- ie like ye in “yes”.
- Final w sounds like English v.
ptaków – [ptah-koof]
- pt really both consonants: p
  - t together.
- a like a in “father”.
- ó pronounced like Polish u, similar to oo in “boot”.
- Final w = v sound.
hałas – [hah-waas]
- Both a’s like in “father”.
- ł like English w.
ulicy – [oo-LEE-tseh]
- u like oo in “boot”.
- Stress on LI: u-LI-cy.
tramwaju – [trahm-VAH-yoo]
- tr like English tr in “train”.
- w again sounds like v.
- ju like you.

Focus especially on:

ł = w
w = v
ó = u sound
Stress almost always on the second-to-last syllable: śpiew, pta-ków, u-li-cy, tram-wa-ju.