Breakdown of Wieczorem gramy w nową grę planszową przy małym stole na balkonie.
Questions & Answers about Wieczorem gramy w nową grę planszową przy małym stole na balkonie.
In Polish, the verb grać needs different prepositions depending on what you play:
grać w + accusative – for games and sports
- grać w piłkę – to play football
- grać w szachy – to play chess
- grać w grę planszową – to play a board game
grać na + locative – for musical instruments
- grać na gitarze – to play the guitar
- grać na pianinie – to play the piano
So with a game, you almost always say grać w coś, not just grać and not grać na.
Gramy w nową grę planszową literally: We play in a new board game → We are playing a new board game.
Because of grammatical case and gender agreement.
- gra (game) is feminine: ta gra
- After grać w, the noun is in the accusative case.
- Feminine accusative singular typically ends in -ą.
So:
- Nominative: nowa gra planszowa (used for the subject of the sentence)
- Accusative: nową grę planszową (object after grać w)
Both the adjectives (nową, planszową) and the noun (grę) change form to match:
feminine, singular, accusative.
gra = a structured game with rules, goals, often winners/losers
- gra planszowa – board game
- gra komputerowa – computer game
zabawa = play, fun, amusement, party
- Dzieci są na podwórku i mają zabawę. – The children are outside having fun.
- Idziemy na zabawę. – We are going to a party.
In this sentence, a board game is clearly a gra, not zabawa.
You cannot say gra planszowa with zabawa; that collocation simply doesn’t exist.
Both przy and na can translate to at in English, but they feel different in Polish:
przy + locative often means by / next to / at (beside something)
- przy stole – at the table (sitting around it)
- przy oknie – by the window
na + locative is more literally on (the surface of) something
- na stole – on the table (on its surface)
In Polish, the natural expression for to sit/play at a table is przy stole, not na stole (which would suggest being on top of the table).
The noun stół (table) is in the locative case after the preposition przy.
Basic forms of stół:
- Nominative (dictionary form): stół – the table (subject)
- Locative singular: stole – used after przy, na, w when they indicate location
So:
- To jest stół. – This is a table. (nominative)
- Siedzimy przy stole. – We are sitting at the table. (locative)
In your sentence: przy małym stole → stole is locative singular of stół.
For places like balconies, terraces, islands, and some buildings, Polish often uses na instead of w:
- na balkonie – on the balcony
- na tarasie – on the terrace
- na wyspie – on the island
w is more for being inside something (room, building, container):
- w pokoju – in the room
- w domu – in the house
- w szafie – in the wardrobe
A balcony is seen as a kind of open platform attached to a building, so you stand/sit on it: na balkonie.
The preposition na can take:
Accusative – for movement onto / to a surface or area
- Idę na balkon. – I am going (out) onto the balcony.
Locative – for being on a surface or area (no movement)
- Jestem na balkonie. – I am on the balcony.
In your sentence, we describe location (where we are playing), not movement, so we use locative: na balkonie.
Wieczorem is the instrumental case of wieczór (evening), used adverbially to mean in the evening.
Polish often uses the instrumental (without a preposition) for time expressions:
- rano (from ranek) – in the morning
- po południu – in the afternoon (here with a preposition)
- wieczorem – in the evening
- nocą – at night
So Wieczorem gramy... = We play / we are playing in the evening...
Saying w wieczór is not natural in modern Polish for this meaning.
Yes, that’s fine. Polish word order is relatively flexible, and both are correct:
Wieczorem gramy w nową grę planszową...
– Emphasis on when (in the evening).Gramy wieczorem w nową grę planszową...
– More neutral or slight emphasis on the activity we play.
The basic information doesn’t change; only the nuance and rhythm can shift a little.
Polish has no articles (a / an / the), so context decides.
nową grę planszową can be:
- a new board game – introducing it for the first time in the conversation
- the new board game – if both speakers already know which new game they’re talking about (e.g., one you just bought yesterday)
Without context, both translations are possible.
planszową comes from the noun plansza = board (as in game board).
- gra planszowa literally: board game (a game of the board type)
Form:
- Base adjective: planszowy / planszowa / planszowe
- In your sentence, it describes grę (feminine, singular, accusative), so it becomes:
- planszową (feminine, singular, accusative), matching nową and grę.
So all three agree in gender, number, and case: nową grę planszową.
Polish verb endings already show the person, so subject pronouns are usually omitted unless you want to emphasize them.
- gramy = we play / we are playing
- -my is the 1st person plural ending.
You can say My wieczorem gramy... to stress we (e.g., we, not someone else), but in normal, neutral sentences the pronoun is dropped:
- Wieczorem gramy w nową grę planszową... – completely natural.
It can mean both; Polish doesn’t distinguish simple vs continuous the way English does.
Wieczorem gramy w nową grę planszową... could mean:
A regular habit:
- In the evenings we play a new board game (for example, these days we are into a new game).
A specific plan for tonight:
- This evening we are going to play a new board game.
Context (for example, other sentences around it) tells you whether it’s a routine or a one‑time plan.