Learn Hardcore Polish: Przed snem odkłada biżuterię do małego pudełka na półce. - Before sleep she puts her jewellery into a small box on the shelf.

Odkłada is 3rd person singular (he/she/it).
The sentence could be:
- Przed snem ona odkłada biżuterię… – Before sleep she puts away the jewelry…
- Przed snem on odkłada biżuterię… – Before sleep he puts away the jewelry…

Because the verb ending already shows it’s 3rd person singular, Polish doesn’t need to say on/ona unless you want to emphasize who is doing it. In natural Polish, omitting the pronoun is normal.

Why is it biżuterię and not biżuteria?

Biżuteria is a feminine noun meaning jewelry.

In the sentence, biżuterię is the direct object of the verb odkłada (put away). Direct objects take the accusative case.

Nominative (dictionary form, subject): biżuteria
- Biżuteria jest droga. – Jewelry is expensive.
Accusative (direct object): biżuterię
- Odkłada biżuterię. – (He/She) puts away the jewelry.

So:

Co odkłada? – What does (s)he put away? → biżuterię (accusative).

Why is it do małego pudełka and not do małe pudełko?

The preposition do (to / into) in Polish always requires the genitive case.

The basic form of the phrase is:

małe pudełko – a small box (nominative, neutral, singular)

With do, both noun and adjective must change to genitive singular:

pudełko → pudełka (genitive singular)
małe → małego (genitive singular, neuter)

So we get:

do małego pudełka – into a small box

Structure:

odkłada (co?) biżuterię (dokąd?) do małego pudełka
- puts away (what?) jewelry (where to?) into a small box

Why is it na półce and not na półkę?

The preposition na can take two different cases depending on the meaning:

Location (where something is) → locative case
- na czym? – on what?
- na półce – on the shelf (locative)
Direction / movement (onto something) → accusative case
- na co? – onto what?
- na półkę – onto the shelf (accusative)

In this sentence, na półce describes where the box is located (its final position), not the motion of putting it onto the shelf. We understand the movement from the verb odkłada + do pudełka, and na półce just adds the location of that box.

Compare:

Kładzie książkę na półkę. – He/She puts the book onto the shelf. (movement → accusative)
Książka leży na półce. – The book is lying on the shelf. (location → locative)

Why is it Przed snem and not przed sen?

The preposition przed (before, in front of) usually takes the instrumental case when it means before (in time).

The noun:

sen – sleep (nominative)
snem – with/by sleep (instrumental)

So:

przed snem – before sleep / before going to sleep

You cannot say przed sen in this meaning; it’s simply wrong grammatically. Przed + time expression like this needs the instrumental case.

You can also say:

Przed spaniem odkłada biżuterię…
- spanie – gerund from spać (to sleep)
- Also common and natural; stylistically a bit more like before sleeping.

What is the difference between odkłada and odłoży / odkładać / odłożyć?

Polish verbs have aspect: imperfective vs perfective.

odkładać – imperfective infinitive (to be putting away, to put away habitually)
- odkłada – 3rd person singular, present
odłożyć – perfective infinitive (to put away once, to finish the act)
- odłoży – 3rd person singular, future

In the sentence:

Przed snem odkłada biżuterię…
- The present tense imperfective is used for a habitual action: something done regularly, like a routine.

Contrast:

Codziennie przed snem odkłada biżuterię.
- Every day before sleep, (s)he puts away the jewelry. (habit)
Przed snem odłoży biżuterię.
- Before sleep, (s)he will (at some point) put away the jewelry. (a single, completed future action)

Could the word order be different? For example: Odkłada biżuterię przed snem… Is that correct?

Yes, Polish word order is relatively flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

Przed snem odkłada biżuterię do małego pudełka na półce.
Odkłada przed snem biżuterię do małego pudełka na półce.
Odkłada biżuterię przed snem do małego pudełka na półce.
Biżuterię odkłada przed snem do małego pudełka na półce.

The differences are mostly about emphasis and flow, not correctness.

Putting Przed snem first emphasizes the time: As for before sleep, that’s when…
Putting Biżuterię first emphasizes what is being put away.

For a learner, the original order is very natural: [time] [verb] [object] [where to] [where it is].

How does the adjective małego agree with pudełka?

In Polish, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Noun:

pudełko – box
- gender: neuter
- number: singular
- case here: genitive (because of do)

Adjective:

base form: mały – small
neuter nominative singular: małe pudełko
neuter genitive singular: małego pudełka

So the pattern is:

małe pudełko – small box (nominative)
do małego pudełka – into a small box (genitive)

Both małego and pudełka are neuter singular genitive, so they match.

Is biżuteria countable in Polish? How would you say two pieces of jewelry?

Biżuteria in Polish, like jewelry in English, is generally treated as uncountable – a mass noun.

To count items, you usually use a noun like sztuka (piece) or name specific items:

dwie sztuki biżuterii – two pieces of jewelry
trzy elementy biżuterii – three elements of jewelry
dwa naszyjniki – two necklaces
trzy pierścionki – three rings

In everyday speech, people might avoid counting biżuteria directly and instead talk about the specific objects (rings, earrings, etc.).

How is Przed snem pronounced? Does anything special happen with przed?

Yes, there is a common consonant de-voicing / assimilation in fast speech.

Slow, careful pronunciation:

przed snem → [pʂɛd snɛm]

In natural speech, the d at the end of przed often becomes devoiced (t) because the next sound is voiceless s in snem:

Sounds like: [pʂet snem] (roughly pshet snem)

So you’ll often hear something closer to pshet snem, but spelling always stays przed snem.