Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na balkonie.

My neighbor often drinks tea on the balcony.

Breakdown of Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na balkonie.

• mój: my
• herbata: the tea
• na: on
• często: often
• pić: to drink
• balkon: the balcony
• sąsiadka: the female neighbor

Questions & Answers about Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na balkonie.

Why is it moja sąsiadka and not mój sąsiadka?

In Polish, possessive words like mój / moja / moje agree with the gender of the noun they describe.

• sąsiadka (neighbour, female) is a feminine noun.
• The feminine form of "my" is moja.
• mój is the masculine form.

So:

• moja sąsiadka = my (female) neighbour
• mój sąsiad = my (male) neighbour

Using mój sąsiadka would mix masculine "my" with a feminine noun, which is incorrect.

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What is the masculine version of moja sąsiadka?

The masculine version is:

• mój sąsiad = my (male) neighbour

So you have:

• moja sąsiadka – female neighbour
• mój sąsiad – male neighbour

Both mój and moja mean "my", but they change according to the grammatical gender of the noun.

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Which case is moja sąsiadka in, and why?

Moja sąsiadka is in the nominative case (mianownik).

The nominative is used mainly for:

• the subject of the sentence (the "doer" of the action)

In this sentence:

• Moja sąsiadka = the one who is doing the drinking
• Therefore, it must be nominative.

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Why is it herbatę and not herbata?

Herbatę is the accusative form of herbata (tea).

In Polish, with a direct object (the thing directly affected by the verb), you usually use the accusative case.

• Dictionary form: herbata (nominative, "tea")
• After a verb like pić (to drink), it changes:
  • pije herbatę = (she) drinks tea

For most feminine nouns ending in -a, the accusative singular ending is -ę:

• kawa → kawę (coffee)
• woda → wodę (water)
• herbata → herbatę (tea)

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What case is used in na balkonie, and why not na balkon?

Na balkonie uses the locative case (miejscownik), after the preposition na when it means a location ("on/in something").

In Polish:

• na + locative → "on / in" (static location)
• na + accusative → "onto" (movement towards)

Compare:

• Moja sąsiadka pije herbatę na balkonie.
  → She drinks tea on the balcony (she is already there; no movement)
  → balkonie = locative

• Idzie na balkon.
  → She is going onto the balcony (movement towards it)
  → balkon = accusative

So na balkonie is correct because it describes where she is when she drinks, not where she is going.

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Why is the verb pije, and not piję or piją?

The verb is pić (to drink). Here, pije is the 3rd person singular form: "he/she/it drinks".

Present tense forms of pić:

• ja piję – I drink
• ty pijesz – you (sg.) drink
• on / ona / ono pije – he / she / it drinks
• my pijemy – we drink
• wy pijecie – you (pl.) drink
• oni / one piją – they drink

Since the subject is moja sąsiadka (she), we must use:

• (ona) pije – she drinks

piję (I drink) and piją (they drink) would not agree with the subject.

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Does pije mean "drinks" or "is drinking"? How do I express the difference?

In Polish, the present tense usually covers both English meanings:

• Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na balkonie.
  → My neighbour often drinks tea on the balcony.
  (habit)

If you want to emphasise that it’s happening right now, you normally rely on context or time expressions:

• Teraz moja sąsiadka pije herbatę na balkonie.
  → Right now my neighbour is drinking tea on the balcony.

Polish doesn’t have a separate continuous form like "is drinking"; context and adverbs (e.g. teraz, właśnie) show this.

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Why is there no word for "a" or "the" in this sentence?

Polish does not use articles like a / an / the at all.

• herbatę can mean:
  • "tea", "a tea", or "the tea"
• balkonie can mean:
  • "a balcony" or "the balcony"

Which English article you choose depends on context, not on different Polish words or endings.

So:

• Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na balkonie.
  can be translated as:
  • My neighbour often drinks tea on the balcony.
  • My neighbour often drinks a tea on the balcony. (less common in natural English, but possible in some contexts)
  • My neighbour often drinks her tea on the balcony. (if context implies that)

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Where can I put często in the sentence? Is the position fixed?

The position is not strictly fixed; Polish word order is relatively flexible, though some options sound more natural.

Very natural options:

• Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na balkonie.
• Moja sąsiadka pije często herbatę na balkonie.

Both mean "My neighbour often drinks tea on the balcony."
The difference is subtle and mainly one of rhythm or emphasis.

Less common but still possible (with focus on frequency):

• Często moja sąsiadka pije herbatę na balkonie.
  → Emphasises "often" a bit more: It’s often that my neighbour drinks tea on the balcony.

Generally, putting często:

• before the verb: często pije – quite neutral
• after the verb: pije często – sometimes adds a slight emphasis or different flow but is still fine.

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Can I start the sentence with Na balkonie? For example: Na balkonie moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę.

Yes, that sentence is correct Polish.

• Na balkonie moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę.

Word order in Polish can be changed to highlight different parts of the sentence.

• Moja sąsiadka... at the start → more neutral, subject-focused.
• Na balkonie... at the start → puts extra focus on the place:
  "On the balcony, my neighbour often drinks tea."

The basic meaning stays the same; you just shift the emphasis.

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How would I say "My neighbours often drink tea on the balcony" (plural)?

If you mean a mixed group or at least one male neighbour:

• Moi sąsiedzi często piją herbatę na balkonie.

Breakdown:

• moi – my (for masculine personal plural)
• sąsiedzi – neighbours (plural, masculine personal)
• piją – they drink
• The rest stays the same: często piją herbatę na balkonie.

If you mean only female neighbours:

• Moje sąsiadki często piją herbatę na balkonie.

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If I want to say "on her balcony", do I need to say na jej balkonie or na swoim balkonie?

All three options are possible, but they have different nuances:

1. na balkonie

   • Usually understood as her balcony when the subject is moja sąsiadka.
   • Polish often omits possessives when the owner is obvious.

2. na swoim balkonie

   • Literally: "on her own balcony" (reflexive: belonging to the subject).
   • This clearly says the balcony belongs to her, not to someone else.

3. na jej balkonie

   • Literally: "on her balcony" (non-reflexive).
   • Used when "her" is some other woman, not the subject.
   • With moja sąsiadka, it could suggest it’s another woman’s balcony.

So:

• Moja sąsiadka często pije herbatę na swoim balkonie.
  → My neighbour often drinks tea on her own balcony.

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How do I pronounce ą in sąsiadka?

The letter ą is a nasal vowel in Polish.

In sąsiadka, it is pronounced roughly like:

• "sɔŋ-" at the start, similar to "son" in English but with more nasalisation.

More precisely:

• są → close to "son" in British English, but nasal
• The ą here is not pronounced as "om" or "on", but as a nasalised "o".

So sąsiadka sounds like:

• [son-SHYAT-ka], with śa as in "shyah".

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Why does herbata become herbatę, but balkon becomes balkonie? The endings look very different.

They change differently because they are:

• different genders, and
• in different cases.

1. herbata → herbatę

   • Feminine noun ending in -a
   • Used as a direct object → accusative case
   • Typical feminine singular pattern: -a → -ę
     • herbata → herbatę
     • kawa → kawę
     • zupa → zupę

2. balkon → balkonie

   • Masculine noun
   • After na (location) → locative case
   • Typical masculine locative ending: add -ie
     • balkon → balkonie
     • sklep → sklepie
     • pokój → pokoju (irregular)

So they look different because they follow different declension patterns for their gender and case.