Wieczorem zapalamy świece w salonie.

In the evening we light candles in the living room.

Breakdown of Wieczorem zapalamy świece w salonie.

• w: in
• salon: the living room
• wieczorem: in the evening
• my: we
• świeca: the candle
• zapalać: to turn on

Questions & Answers about Wieczorem zapalamy świece w salonie.

Why is it wieczorem and not wieczór or w wieczór?

Polish often uses the instrumental case to talk about when something happens, especially with parts of the day.

• wieczór = evening (basic/nominative form)
• wieczorem = in the evening / evenings (instrumental, adverbial)

So Wieczorem zapalamy świece… is literally: “In the evening, we light candles…”

You normally don’t say w wieczór in this meaning. Instead you use the instrumental form:

• rano – in the morning (special adverb, not a case form)
• po południu – in the afternoon (prepositional phrase)
• wieczorem – in the evening
• nocą – at night (also instrumental form of noc)

So wieczorem here is a standard way to say in the evening / in the evenings.

Can I move wieczorem to a different position in the sentence?

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible. You can say, for example:

• Wieczorem zapalamy świece w salonie. (neutral: “In the evening we light candles in the living room.”)
• Zapalamy wieczorem świece w salonie.
• Zapalamy świece wieczorem w salonie.
• W salonie wieczorem zapalamy świece.

All are grammatically correct. The differences are mostly about emphasis and rhythm, not grammar.
Placing wieczorem at the beginning makes the time frame more prominent.

Why is there no my (“we”) in the sentence?

Polish is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (like ja, ty, my) are usually left out because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

• zapalamy ends in -my, which clearly marks 1st person plural = “we”.

So:

• My zapalamy świece w salonie. – We light candles in the living room.
• Zapalamy świece w salonie. – same meaning; my is normally omitted in neutral statements.

You use my for contrast or emphasis, e.g. My zapalamy świece, a oni włączają lampę. – We light candles, and they switch on the lamp.

What is the exact nuance of zapalamy? Is it present, future, or habitual?

Zapalamy is present tense, imperfective aspect of zapalać.

Depending on context, imperfective present in Polish can mean:

1. Right now:

   • Co robicie? – Zapalamy świece. – What are you doing? – We’re lighting candles.

2. Habitual / repeated action (very likely here with wieczorem):

   • Wieczorem zapalamy świece w salonie.
     ≈ In the evenings we (usually) light candles in the living room.

To emphasize a single future event, you’d normally use the perfective verb zapalać → zapalić:

• Wieczorem zapalimy świece w salonie. – In the evening we will (once) light candles in the living room.

Why is it świece and not świeczki or some other form?

The base noun is:

• świeca – a candle (more neutral/formal)
• świeczka – a (little) candle (often more colloquial or emphasizing small size, like birthday candles, tealights)

In the sentence:

• świece is the accusative plural of świeca.
  For feminine inanimate nouns like świeca, nominative plural and accusative plural look the same:
  • N: świece
  • A: świece (here, as the direct object after zapalamy)

If you used the diminutive:

• Zapalamy świeczki w salonie. – We light (little) candles in the living room.

Both are correct; świece just sounds a bit more neutral/standard.

What case is świece in, and why?

Świece is in the accusative plural.

Reason: it’s the direct object of a transitive verb:

• Verb: zapalamy – we light
• Object: świece – (the thing we light)

For an inanimate feminine noun:

• Nominative singular: świeca
• Accusative singular: świecę
• Nominative plural: świece
• Accusative plural: świece

So in the sentence, świece = accusative plural, even though it looks the same as nominative plural.

Why is it w salonie, not w salon or w salonu?

After w meaning “in” with a static location (no movement), Polish uses the locative case.

Base noun:

• salon – living room / lounge / salon

Locative singular:

• w salonie – in the living room / in the salon

So:

• w
  • salon (locative: salonie) → w salonie

You would use a different case with different prepositions:

• do salonu – to the living room (movement towards, genitive after do)
• z salonu – from the living room (movement from, genitive after z)

Does salon only mean “living room”? Could it mean a beauty salon too?

Salon can mean several things; context decides:

1. living room / sitting room – the most common meaning in home context

   • Zapalamy świece w salonie. – at home: almost certainly living room.

2. salon / showroom / studio – e.g.:

   • salon fryzjerski – hair salon
   • salon kosmetyczny – beauty salon
   • salon samochodowy – car showroom

By itself, in a typical home-related sentence like this, w salonie will be understood as in the living room.

What’s the difference between w and na, and could I say na salonie?

General rule of thumb:

• w = in, inside (enclosed or 3D space)

  • w salonie – in the living room
  • w domu – in the house
  • w szafie – in the wardrobe

• na = on / at (surface, open space, some institutions/activities)

  • na stole – on the table
  • na dworze – outside
  • na uniwersytecie – at university

For a room in a house, you almost always use w.
Na salonie is not standard for the literal room; it sounds wrong or, in some fixed idioms like bywać na salonach, it refers metaphorically to “high society salons”.

Can I change the order of świece and w salonie?

Yes. Both are grammatical:

• Wieczorem zapalamy świece w salonie. (neutral)
• Wieczorem zapalamy w salonie świece.

The meaning is the same: In the evening we light candles in the living room.
Polish word order is relatively flexible; typically you keep verb + object together (zapalamy świece) and then add place (w salonie), but moving w salonie before świece is still fine and may slightly change emphasis or style.

How would I say “We light a candle in the living room in the evening” (just one candle)?

You’d change the object from plural to singular:

• Wieczorem zapalamy świecę w salonie.

Here:

• świeca – a candle (nominative singular)
• świecę – accusative singular (direct object of zapalamy)

So:

• Wieczorem zapalamy świecę w salonie. – In the evening we light a candle in the living room.

Is wieczorem also a case form, and where else would I see this pattern?

Yes, wieczorem is the instrumental singular of wieczór.

Polish often uses the instrumental (without a preposition) for time expressions, especially parts of the day and some longer periods:

• rano – in the morning (special adverb)
• wieczorem – in the evening / in the evenings
• nocą – at night (instrumental of noc)
• latem – in (the) summer (instrumental of lato)
• zimą – in (the) winter (instrumental of zima)

So Wieczorem zapalamy świece… fits this regular pattern of using the instrumental to indicate when something typically happens.