W sobotę będziemy ćwiczyć w parku.

On Saturday we will exercise in the park.

Breakdown of W sobotę będziemy ćwiczyć w parku.

• w: in
• park: the park
• my: we
• w sobotę: on Saturday
• ćwiczyć: to practise

Questions & Answers about W sobotę będziemy ćwiczyć w parku.

Why is it W sobotę and not W sobota?

Days of the week in Polish after w (meaning on in this context) take the accusative case.

• The basic form is sobota (Saturday) – nominative case.
• The accusative singular of a feminine -a noun is sobotę.

So:

• sobota – Saturday (as a dictionary form / subject)
• w sobotę – on Saturday

Saying w sobota is grammatically incorrect in standard Polish.

What does będziemy mean exactly?

Będziemy is the first person plural future of the verb być (to be):

• będę – I will be
• będziesz – you (sing.) will be
• będzie – he / she / it will be
• będziemy – we will be
• będziecie – you (pl.) will be
• będą – they will be

In this sentence, będziemy ćwiczyć means we will exercise (we will be exercising).

Where is the word we in the Polish sentence?

Polish usually drops subject pronouns, because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

• będziemy already tells you it is we.
• You can say My będziemy ćwiczyć w parku (with my = we) for emphasis, but normally it’s just omitted.

So the subject we is understood from będziemy.

Why is it będziemy ćwiczyć and not something like będziemy ćwiczymy?

In Polish, one way to form the future tense of an imperfective verb (like ćwiczyć) is:

future of być + infinitive

So:

• będziemy ćwiczyć = we will exercise

You cannot combine two finite verb forms (będziemy ćwiczymy is wrong). The future auxiliary (będziemy) must be followed by the infinitive (ćwiczyć), not another conjugated verb.

Why do we use this two-word future (będziemy ćwiczyć) instead of a single future verb form?

Polish has two types of future:

1. Compound future for imperfective verbs:

   • będziemy ćwiczyć – we will be exercising / we will exercise (focus on the process, regularity, or no clear endpoint)

2. Simple future for perfective verbs:

   • poćwiczymy – we will work out (and the action will be completed at some point)

So będziemy ćwiczyć w parku is neutral and process-focused (we’ll be exercising), while poćwiczymy w parku sounds a bit more like we’ll have a workout there (and that will be done).

What does ćwiczyć mean? Is it only “to exercise (physically)”?

Ćwiczyć is an imperfective verb that generally means to exercise / to practice. It can refer to:

• physical exercise:
  • Ćwiczyć na siłowni – to work out at the gym
• practising a skill:
  • Ćwiczyć gramatykę – to practise grammar
  • Ćwiczyć grę na pianinie – to practise playing the piano

In this sentence, because of w parku, the most natural interpretation is to exercise / work out (physically) in the park.

Why is it w parku and not just w park or w parkę?

After the preposition w meaning in / at (with location), Polish normally uses the locative case.

• Basic (nominative) form: park
• Locative singular: w parku – in the park

So:

• park – the park (dictionary form)
• w parku – in the park

w park is wrong in standard Polish, and parkę would be an accusative form used in different structures (not after w with a static location).

Why does w (which usually means “in”) also mean on in w sobotę?

Polish often uses w with time expressions where English uses on:

• w sobotę – on Saturday
• w niedzielę – on Sunday
• w maju – in May

So:

• In w parku, w = in (location).
• In w sobotę, w = on (day/time).

The preposition is the same in Polish; the exact English equivalent (in vs on) depends on context.

Can I change the word order? For example: W sobotę w parku będziemy ćwiczyć or Będziemy ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę?

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:

• W sobotę będziemy ćwiczyć w parku. – neutral, common order.
• W sobotę w parku będziemy ćwiczyć. – slight emphasis on Saturday in the park as the setting.
• Będziemy ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – slight emphasis on we will be exercising; time comes at the end.

The basic information doesn’t change; moving parts around mainly affects emphasis and rhythm, not grammatical correctness.

What case is used in w sobotę and w parku, and why are they different?

They use different cases because they express different things:

• w sobotę – accusative (time: on Saturday)

  • Day names after *w traditionally take accusative when you mean on [day]*.

• w parku – locative (place: in the park)

  • After w with a static location (in, inside), you use the locative case.

So w + accusative here expresses time, while w + locative expresses location.

How do you pronounce sobotę, będziemy, ćwiczyć, and w here?

Approximate pronunciation:

• sobotę – [so-BO-teh]

  • o as in soft (but shorter),
  • final ę is a nasal vowel; often sounds like a slightly nasal eh in everyday speech.

• będziemy – [ben-DJEM-ih]

  • ę like a nasal en,
  • dzi in dziej sounds similar to English j in jet.

• ćwiczyć – roughly [CHVEE-chih-ch]

  • ć is a soft ch (like ch in cheek, but softer and more palatal),
  • w between consonants often sounds like English v, so ćw ≈ chv,
  • y is a vowel not in English, somewhere between i in bit and u in put.

• w – usually pronounced like English v.

  • In w sobotę, it sounds like f or v blended into the following word: [fso-BO-teh] or [vso-BO-teh], depending on speaker and speed.

How would this sentence change with a different person, like “I will exercise in the park on Saturday”?

You keep w sobotę and w parku, and change only the future form of być:

• Ja będę ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – I will exercise in the park on Saturday.

For different subjects:

• Ty będziesz ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – You (sing.) will exercise…
• On / Ona będzie ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – He / She will exercise…
• My będziemy ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – We will exercise…
• Wy będziecie ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – You (pl.) will exercise…
• Oni / One będą ćwiczyć w parku w sobotę. – They will exercise…

The rest of the sentence stays the same; only the form of być (będę, będziesz, etc.) changes.