Learn Hardcore Polish: Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.

Note: for many feminine nouns in -a, the genitive and locative look the same (pracy), but in this structure it is functioning as locative.

Does idę mean I go or specifically I walk on foot?

The verb iść (here: idę) primarily means to go on foot / to walk (in one direction).

Polish distinguishes:

iść → idę = I go / I’m going (on foot)
jechać → jadę = I go / I’m going (by vehicle: car, bus, train, etc.)

So:

Idę do domu. – I’m going home (on foot).
Jadę do domu. – I’m going home (by car/bus/etc.).

However, when talking about plans or arrangements, idę is often used more loosely:

Idę do kina wieczorem. – I’m going to the cinema this evening.
(Doesn’t necessarily say how; it’s just a plan/arrangement.)

In your sentence, the default reading is “I’m going (on foot)”, but in everyday conversation it can also be understood more generally as “I’m going” today after work.

Why is idę used here instead of chodzę?

Polish distinguishes between:

iść → idę: one specific movement, now or in the (near) future, in one direction.
chodzić → chodzę: habitual / repeated movement, or “to walk” in general.

So:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu
= After work (today / this time) I’m going straight home.
(one concrete plan/event)
Po pracy chodzę bezpośrednio do domu
= After work I (usually) go straight home.
(describes a regular habit)

Your original sentence with idę is most natural if the speaker is talking about today or a specific occasion, not about a long-term routine.

Can idę here refer to the future, even though the going happens after work?

Yes. In Polish, present tense of motion verbs like iść is very often used for planned near-future actions, especially when there is a time expression:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu…
→ After work I’m going straight home…

This is similar to English:

“I’m going home after work.”
“Tomorrow I’m going to Warsaw.”

So even though grammatically it’s “present tense”, in context it clearly refers to a future action that is already planned or decided.

Why is it do domu and not do dom, and what does do domu really mean?

The preposition do always takes the genitive case.

The noun dom (house, home) declines as:

Nominative: dom (this is my house)
Genitive: domu (to, from, of the house/home)
Locative: domu (in/at the house/home – w domu)

So with do we must use domu:

do domu = to the house / (to) home

In Polish, do domu very often corresponds to English home (as a destination):

Idę do domu. – I’m going home.
Wracam do domu. – I’m going back home.

You cannot say *do dom; nominative dom can’t be used after a preposition.

What exactly does bezpośrednio mean, and can I replace it with prosto or od razu?

bezpośrednio means roughly directly, with no stops or intermediate stages.

In this sentence:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu…
= After work I go directly / straight home (I don’t stop anywhere on the way).

You can usually replace it with:

prosto (do domu) – straight (home)
- Very common and a bit more colloquial.
- Po pracy idę prosto do domu.
od razu (do domu) – right away (home)
- Emphasises “immediately after”, less about the route.
- Po pracy idę od razu do domu.

All three can work here:

bezpośrednio – slightly more neutral/formal, “directly”.
prosto – everyday, very natural: “straight (there)”.
od razu – focuses on “immediately (after work)”.

How does żeby work in the phrase żeby odpocząć?

żeby is a conjunction that introduces a purpose clause:
so that, in order to.

In your sentence:

…, żeby odpocząć.
= … in order to rest / so that I can rest.

Because the subject of both verbs is the same (I):

main clause: (Ja) idę – I’m going
purpose: (ja) odpocząć – (I) to rest

Polish can use żeby + infinitive:

Idę do domu, żeby odpocząć.
(I’m going home in order to rest.)

If the subject is different, you normally use żeby + a normal conjugated verb:

Idę do domu, żeby dzieci odpoczęły.
I’m going home so that the children can rest.
Chcę, żebyś odpoczął / odpoczęła.
I want you to rest.

So here żeby marks purpose, and the infinitive odpocząć is used because the subject is the same as in the main clause.

Why is there a comma before żeby odpocząć?

In Polish punctuation, you almost always put a comma before żeby because it introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent part of the sentence):

Idę do domu, żeby odpocząć.

Even though odpocząć is only an infinitive, żeby odpocząć still counts as a separate clause of purpose, so it is separated by a comma.

Compare:

With żeby → comma:
- Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
Without żeby → no comma:
- Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu odpocząć.

So the comma is required because of “żeby”, not because of the infinitive itself.

Why is the perfective verb odpocząć used instead of the imperfective odpoczywać?

Polish has aspect: perfective vs imperfective.

odpocząć – perfective: to rest (as a single, completed action / to get some rest).
odpoczywać – imperfective: to rest (be in the process of resting / to rest in general).

For purpose in sentences like this, Polish usually chooses perfective:

Idę do domu, żeby odpocząć.
I’m going home so that I (can) get some rest.

Using odpocząć suggests you want a satisfying, completed bit of rest as a result.

żeby odpoczywać is possible, but it feels different; it focuses on ongoing, long-term resting:

Przechodzę na emeryturę, żeby odpoczywać.
I’m retiring in order to rest (from now on, in general).

In your everyday “after work” sentence, żeby odpocząć is the natural choice.

Could I say Po pracy chodzę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć to talk about a habit?

Yes. That’s a good way to talk about a regular habit:

Po pracy chodzę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
= After work I (normally) go straight home to rest.

Nuance:

idę → one particular time / today / a specific plan.
chodzę → what you usually do, not just once.

So:

If you mean today’s plan:
Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
If you mean your routine:
Po pracy chodzę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.

How flexible is the word order in this sentence?

Polish word order is fairly flexible. These variants are all grammatical, with only slight differences in emphasis:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
– Neutral, starts with the time phrase (after work).
Idę po pracy bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
– Puts a bit more focus on idę (“I’m going”), then adds po pracy.
Idę bezpośrednio do domu po pracy, żeby odpocząć.
– The time phrase po pracy comes later, almost like an afterthought:
“I’m going straight home after work, to rest.”
Bezpośrednio po pracy idę do domu, żeby odpocząć.
– Emphasizes immediately after work.

All keep the same basic meaning. The most typical, neutral patterns would be (1) and (4).

Can I drop żeby and just say Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu odpocząć?

Yes, that is correct and quite natural:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu odpocząć.

Here odpocząć functions more like a complement of motion:

Idę odpocząć. – I’m going (in order) to rest.
Idę do domu odpocząć. – I’m going home to rest.

Nuance:

z żeby:
- Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
  Slightly more explicit about purpose (“so that I can rest”).
without żeby:
- Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu odpocząć.
  A bit more compact and colloquial; feels very much like English
  “I’m going straight home to rest.”

Both are fully correct.

Who is supposed to rest in żeby odpocząć, and how do I say it if someone else is resting?

In …, żeby odpocząć, the understood subject is the same as the main subject:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby odpocząć.
→ It means I am going home so that I can rest.

If you want someone else to be the one who rests, you must say that subject explicitly and use a conjugated verb, not the infinitive:

Examples:

Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby dzieci odpoczęły.
I’m going straight home after work so that the children can rest.
Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żeby mąż odpoczął.
…so that my husband can rest.
Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żebyś odpoczął. (to a man)
Po pracy idę bezpośrednio do domu, żebyś odpoczęła. (to a woman)
…so that you can rest.

So:

żeby + infinitive → same subject as the main verb (here: I).
żeby + normal finite verb → the subject can be different, and you show it by the form of that verb (and optionally a noun or pronoun).