Learn Hardcore Polish: Wieczorem patrzymy na świecącą latarnię i na małe migające gwiazdy. - In the evening we look at the shining street lamp and at the small blinking stars.

So instead of saying something like “w wieczór” (in the evening), Polish normally just uses Wieczorem as a kind of time adverbial:
Wieczorem patrzymy… = In the evening we look…

Where is the word “we” in the Polish sentence?

Polish usually doesn’t need a separate subject pronoun like “we” because the information is built into the verb ending.

The verb here is patrzymy.
The ending -my marks 1st person plural → “we”.

So:

patrzę – I look
patrzysz – you (sg) look
patrzy – he/she/it looks
patrzymy – we look
patrzycie – you (pl) look
patrzą – they look

You can say My patrzymy na…, but that usually adds emphasis, like “We (as opposed to others) look at…”. In a neutral sentence, patrzymy alone already means “we look / we are looking.”

Does patrzymy mean “we look” or “we are looking”? What’s the difference in Polish?

Patrzymy can mean both:

“we look (at something)” – general / habitual
“we are looking (at something)” – right now

Polish has only one present tense form, which covers both:

Wieczorem patrzymy na…
– could mean: In the evenings we (usually) look at… (habit)
– or: This evening we are looking at… (specific situation), depending on context.

English separates these with simple present (we look) and present continuous (we are looking), but Polish doesn’t; context tells you which one is intended.

What’s the difference between patrzeć, widzieć, and oglądać? Why use patrzymy here?

These three verbs all relate to seeing/looking but are used differently:

patrzeć (na + accusative) – to look (at), to watch
Focus on the act of directing your eyes somewhere.
→ patrzymy na świecącą latarnię – we are looking at the shining lantern.
widzieć (kogo/co) – to see (someone/something)
Focus on the result: something is in your field of vision.
→ Widzimy latarnię i gwiazdy. – We see the lantern and the stars.
oglądać – to watch, to view (often something longer or more actively, like a movie, a show, a sightseeing object).
→ Oglądamy gwiazdy. – We are watching the stars (e.g., star‑gazing activity).

In your sentence, the stress is on looking at these things, so patrzymy na… is the natural choice.

Why is na repeated: na świecącą latarnię i na małe migające gwiazdy? Could it be said only once?

It could be said only once:

Wieczorem patrzymy na świecącą latarnię i małe migające gwiazdy.

Repeating na is optional and often a matter of style and clarity:

With repetition:
na świecącą latarnię i na małe migające gwiazdy
– slightly more careful, rhythmic, and emphasizes there are two separate targets of looking.
Without repetition:
na świecącą latarnię i małe migające gwiazdy
– a bit more compact; na is understood to apply to both objects.

Both are grammatically correct. Polish frequently repeats the preposition in coordinated phrases, but it doesn’t have to.

Which case are latarnię and gwiazdy in, and why that case?

Both latarnię and gwiazdy are in the accusative case.

Reason: the verb + preposition combination patrzeć na always takes na + accusative when it means “to look at”:

patrzeć na kogo? co? – na
- accusative
  → na świecącą latarnię (accusative singular)
  → na małe migające gwiazdy (accusative plural)

So:

latarnię – accusative singular of latarnia (feminine)
gwiazdy – accusative plural of gwiazda (feminine; here acc = nom)

If na meant “on” in a static sense (location), it would normally take locative, but with patrzeć na it specifically means “look at” and requires accusative.

Why is it latarnię and not latarnia?

Latarnia is the dictionary (nominative singular) form:

to jest latarnia – this is a lantern / lamp.

But in the sentence it is the object of the verb patrzymy na:

patrzymy na kogo? co? – accusative

For a typical feminine noun ending in -a, the accusative singular ends in -ę:

nominative: latarnia
accusative: latarnię

Same pattern:

kawa → piję kawę – I drink coffee.
książka → mam książkę – I have a book.

So latarnię is just latarnia in the correct case for “look at.”

Why is it gwiazdy and not gwiazd?

Gwiazdy here is accusative plural of gwiazda (star).

Patterns:

nominative singular: gwiazda – a star
nominative plural: gwiazdy – stars
accusative plural: gwiazdy – (same as nominative plural for feminine animate/inanimate)
genitive plural: gwiazd

With patrzeć na you need na + accusative:

patrzymy na gwiazdy – we look at the stars.

If you used gwiazd, that would be genitive plural, which would sound like “of the stars” rather than “at the stars,” and would be wrong after patrzymy na.

What exactly are świecącą and migające? Are they verbs or adjectives?

Świecącą and migające are present active adjectival participles (in Polish: imiesłowy przymiotnikowe czynne). Functionally, they behave like adjectives.

świecącą – from świecić (to shine, to give light)
→ literally “shining / that is shining”
migające – from migać (to blink, to twinkle, to flash)
→ literally “blinking / that are blinking / twinkling”

They agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case, just like normal adjectives:

świecącą latarnię – feminine, singular, accusative
migające gwiazdy – feminine, plural, accusative

So grammatically they act as adjectives but retain a clear verbal meaning (“doing X”), similar to English “shining lantern”, “blinking stars.”

Why does świecącą end in -ącą, but migające ends in -ące?

Both come from the participle pattern -ący / -ąca / -ące, but they’re in different gender–number–case forms:

Base participle (dictionary/adjective form):

świecący – shining
migający – blinking

Adjective endings then change to match the noun:

świecącą latarnię

latarnia – feminine, singular, accusative
feminine singular accusative participle → świecącą (ending -ącą)

migające gwiazdy

gwiazdy – feminine, plural, accusative
non-masculine plural nominative/accusative participle → migające (ending -ące)

So the different endings reflect:

świecąc-ą → feminine singular acc.
migaj-ące → plural (non-masculine) nom./acc.

They follow the same pattern as ordinary adjectives (e.g. ładną latarnię, małe gwiazdy).

How do małe and migające agree with gwiazdy? Why aren’t they in some other form?

The noun gwiazdy (stars) is:

feminine
plural
accusative (object of patrzymy na)

For feminine plural inanimate nouns like gwiazdy, the accusative plural = nominative plural. Adjectives and participles must match:

małe – “small” (feminine plural nom./acc.)
migające – “blinking” (feminine plural nom./acc.)

So:

małe migające gwiazdy = small blinking stars
– all words are feminine, plural, accusative (form identical to nominative).

If you changed the case, these forms would also change, e.g.:

genitive plural: małych migających gwiazd
instrumental plural: z małymi migającymi gwiazdami – with small blinking stars

Can the word order change? For example, could you say Patrzymy wieczorem na świecącą latarnię…?

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible, especially for adverbials like Wieczorem.

All of these are grammatically correct, with only slight differences in emphasis:

Wieczorem patrzymy na świecącą latarnię i na małe migające gwiazdy.
– Neutral; common to put time at the beginning.
Patrzymy wieczorem na świecącą latarnię i na małe migające gwiazdy.
– Slightly more focus on the activity (“We look in the evening…”).
Patrzymy na świecącą latarnię i na małe migające gwiazdy wieczorem.
– The time phrase at the end can sound a bit like an afterthought (“…in the evening”).

The core rule is that the verb and its objects/cases must stay grammatically consistent; the order is relatively free and used mainly to control rhythm and focus, not basic meaning.

Could you say W wieczór or W wieczorze instead of Wieczorem?

In ordinary modern Polish, no—that would sound unnatural or archaic.

For time expressions, Polish usually prefers bare case forms (especially instrumental) without a preposition:

wieczorem – in the evening
rano / rankiem – in the morning
po południu – in the afternoon
nocą – at night

Using w wieczór or w wieczorze is not standard for “in the evening.” You might see similar forms in poetic or archaic language, but in normal speech and writing you should say simply:

Wieczorem patrzymy na…

What’s the nuance of świecącą latarnię? Does it mean the lantern is turned on?

Yes, świecącą latarnię implies that the lantern is actively shining / giving light right now.

Subtleties:

świecąca latarnia – a lantern that is shining (on); its light is visible.
latarnia alone – a lantern, with no information about whether it is lit or not.

So:

patrzymy na świecącą latarnię – we look at a lantern that is lit and shining.
patrzymy na latarnię – we look at a lantern (could be on or off; context would have to say).

Similarly with the stars: migające gwiazdy tells you the stars are visibly twinkling/blinking.