Learn Hardcore Polish: Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS, od razu napiszę odpowiedź. - As soon as I get a text from her, I will immediately write a reply.

Kiedy dostanę od niej SMS… – When I get a text from her…
Gdy dostanę od niej SMS… – When I get a text from her… (a bit more formal/literary than kiedy)

Differences:

jak tylko strongly suggests immediacy (“the very moment that…”).
kiedy/gdy are more neutral “when”; they don’t necessarily suggest “right away”.

So jak tylko ≈ “as soon as / the moment that,” while kiedy/gdy ≈ “when.”

Why is the future tense used in both parts: dostanę and napiszę, when in English we say “as soon as I get…, I will write…” (present + future)?

In Polish, future tense is normal in both clauses in this kind of sentence.

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS, od razu napiszę odpowiedź.
Literally: As soon as I will get a text from her, I will immediately write a reply.

Polish does not have the same rule as English that forbids “will” in time clauses (“when/as soon as/if”). So:

English: “When I get home, I will call you.”
Polish: Kiedy wrócę do domu, zadzwonię do ciebie. (both verbs in the future)

Using present tense here (Jak tylko dostaję… napiszę…) would sound wrong or at least very odd. For future actions, you use the future in both clauses.

Why is it dostanę and napiszę, not dostaję or piszę? What’s going on with verb aspect here?

Polish has perfective and imperfective verbs:

dostawać (impf.) / dostać (pf.)
– dostanę = I will receive (one specific act, completed)
pisać (impf.) / napisać (pf.)
– napiszę = I will write (and finish)

In your sentence, we talk about single, completed future events, so perfective future is natural:

dostanę – I will (successfully) receive one SMS.
napiszę (odpowiedź) – I will write and finish the reply.

If you said:

Jak tylko dostaję od niej SMS… – sounds wrong in this future meaning.
Jak tylko piszę odpowiedź… – also wrong here; it sounds like describing a repeated or ongoing action, not a one-time future event.

So: in one-time, completed future actions, especially in “as soon as/when” type sentences, you normally use perfective future (here: dostanę, napiszę).

Why is it od niej, not od ona or od jej?

Polish personal pronouns change their form after prepositions like od (“from”).

Basic pronoun: ona – she
After prepositions (like od, dla, do, o, na etc.), you use special forms:
- niej (stressed form)
- jej (unstressed, used in some positions)

After od, the natural form is od niej:

od niej = from her

Forms you might be tempted to use, but that are wrong here:

od ona – incorrect: ona is the basic nominative form.
od jej – grammatically possible in some contexts, but very marked and stylistically special; in everyday speech here you just say od niej.

So remember: preposition + ona → od / do / dla / o / na / u + niej in normal usage.

Could I say SMS od niej instead of od niej SMS? Is there a difference in word order?

Yes, you can say both:

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS…
Jak tylko dostanę SMS od niej…

Both are correct and natural.

Subtle differences:

od niej SMS puts a tiny bit more emphasis on from her (you meet od niej earlier in the sentence).
SMS od niej sounds slightly more neutral, like English “a text from her.”

In everyday speech, both orders are fine. Word order in Polish is quite flexible and often relates more to emphasis and rhythm than to strict grammar requirements.

Is SMS really used in Polish like in English? How is it pronounced and declined?

Yes, SMS is a very common word in Polish.

Meaning: a text message (the traditional SMS).
Pronunciation: roughly [es-em-es] (three separate letters).
Gender: usually treated as masculine inanimate.

Declension (one common pattern – usage varies):

Nominative: SMS – Przyszedł SMS. (A text has arrived.)
Accusative (object): SMS or SMS-a – Dostałem SMS / SMS-a.
Genitive: SMS-a – Nie mam twojego SMS-a.

In your sentence, dostanę od niej SMS uses SMS as the direct object. Many speakers would also say dostanę od niej SMS-a; both forms are widely understood, and style preferences vary by region and register.

For a learner, it’s safe to use:

dostać SMS-a, napisać SMS-a
or, in more modern informal writing, simply SMS without -a.

What does od razu mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

od razu means “immediately / right away / straight away”.

In your sentence:

…od razu napiszę odpowiedź.
= …I’ll write a reply immediately / right away.

Common positions:

Before the verb:
- Od razu napiszę odpowiedź.
After the verb (also fine, with slight emphasis on immediately):
- Napiszę od razu odpowiedź.

Synonyms:

natychmiast – a bit more formal: immediately
zaraz – often “in a moment / shortly,” but can overlap with “right away” in speech.

So od razu is a very natural, everyday way to say “right away.”

Why is it napiszę odpowiedź and not just a verb like odpowiem or odpiszę?

All of these are possible, but they’re slightly different:

napiszę odpowiedź
– literally: I will write a reply.
– focuses on the act of writing a reply (noun odpowiedź = “answer, reply”).
odpowiem (from odpowiedzieć)
– I will answer.
– more general; could be spoken or written, depending on context.
odpiszę (from odpisać)
– I will write back / I’ll reply in writing.
– clearly written response (very natural with SMS, emails, messages).

So you could also say:

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS, od razu odpiszę.
(As soon as I get a text from her, I’ll reply right away.)

Your original version napiszę odpowiedź is correct and clear; it just uses a noun phrase instead of a single verb. In everyday speech about texts/messages, odpiszę is probably the most idiomatic short form.

Why is there a comma before od razu napiszę odpowiedź? Is it always required?

Yes, in standard Polish you must put a comma between the subordinate clause and the main clause.

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS, od razu napiszę odpowiedź.

Structure:

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS – subordinate clause (introduced by jak tylko)
od razu napiszę odpowiedź – main clause

Rule: Subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like jak, kiedy, gdy, jeśli, że, ponieważ etc. are separated by a comma from the main clause.

You may sometimes see:

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS, to od razu napiszę odpowiedź.

Here to is optional; the comma stays either way:

✅ Jak tylko…, od razu…
✅ Jak tylko…, to…
❌ Jak tylko… to… (without the comma – incorrect in standard writing)

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would I say this in a text, in speech, or in a formal email?

The sentence is neutral and conversational. You can:

Use it in speech to friends, family, colleagues.
Use it in texts / chats.
Use it in most emails, including relatively polite ones.

For very formal written style, you might tweak vocabulary:

Jak tylko otrzymam od niej wiadomość SMS, niezwłocznie odpiszę.

But your original:

Jak tylko dostanę od niej SMS, od razu napiszę odpowiedź.

is natural and appropriate in everyday spoken and written Polish.