Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami.

The children run in the park together with us.

Breakdown of Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami.

• razem: together
• w: in
• dziecko: the child
• biegać: to run
• park: the park
• z: with
• nami: us

Questions & Answers about Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami.

Why is it biegają and not biegną?

Polish has two basic verbs for to run:

• biegać – running around / in general / habitually
• biec – running in one specific direction, usually once

Biegają comes from biegać, so Dzieci biegają w parku suggests the children are running around in the park (not just in one straight line from point A to B).
If you said Dzieci biegną w parku, it would sound more like “the children are running (along) in the park” in some specific direction, for example on a path.

What tense is biegają, and how would I say “the children ran (in the park)”?

Biegają is present tense, imperfective, 3rd person plural.

To say The children ran in the park, you normally use the past tense of biegać:

• Dzieci biegały w parku.

Because dzieci is grammatically non-masculine plural, the standard form is biegały (not biegali).
So:

• Dzieci biegają w parku. – The children are running / run in the park.
• Dzieci biegały w parku. – The children were running / ran in the park.

Why is it Dzieci biegają, not Dzieci biega?

The subject dzieci is plural, so the verb must also be in the 3rd person plural.

• 3rd person singular: on/ona/ono biega – he/she/it runs
• 3rd person plural: oni/one biegają – they run

Dzieci (children) behaves like one (non-masculine plural), so you use biegają:

• Dziecko biega. – A child runs.
• Dzieci biegają. – (The) children run / are running.

Why is it w parku and not w park?

The preposition w uses different cases depending on meaning:

• w + locative = in, inside (location: where?)
  
  • w parku – in the park
• w + accusative = into (motion: where to?), less common than do but possible in some phrases

Your sentence answers where? the children are running: in the park, so you must use w + locative → w parku.
If you wanted to say into the park, you’d more naturally say do parku.

What case is parku, and how does park decline?

In w parku, parku is locative singular of park.

A typical declension of park (masculine inanimate) is:

• Nominative: park – (Ten) park jest duży. – The park is big.
• Genitive: parku – Nie ma parku. – There is no park.
• Dative: parkowi – Przyglądam się parkowi. – I’m looking at the park.
• Accusative: park – Widzę park. – I see the park.
• Instrumental: parkiem – Idę z parkiem. (odd example, but form is correct)
• Locative: parku – Jestem w parku. – I am in the park.
• Vocative: parku – (rarely used; calling out to a park is not very natural)

So w parku is w + locative = in the park.

Why is it z nami, and not z my or z nas?

The preposition z (meaning with here) requires the instrumental case.

The personal pronoun my (we) has different forms in different cases:

• Nominative (subject): my – My biegamy. – We run.
• Genitive / Accusative: nas – Widzą nas. – They see us.
• Dative: nam – Dają nam. – They give (it) to us.
• Instrumental: nami – Są z nami. – They are with us.

Because z = with → z + instrumental, you must say z nami.
So razem z nami literally = together with us.

Why does z sometimes mean “with” and sometimes “from/out of”, and does that change the case?

Z has two main meanings, and they use different cases:

1. z + instrumental → with (company)

   • z nami – with us
   • z psem – with the dog
   • z kolegą – with a (male) friend

2. z + genitive → from/out of/off (movement away)

   • z parku – from the park
   • z domu – from (the) house
   • z biurka – off the desk

In your sentence, z nami clearly means with us, so it’s instrumental.

What does razem add? Could I just say Dzieci biegają w parku z nami?

Razem means together.

• Dzieci biegają w parku z nami. – The children are running in the park with us.
• Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami. – The children are running in the park together with us.

Often z nami already implies doing something with us, but razem makes the idea of togetherness explicit and a bit stronger.

Your version Dzieci biegają w parku z nami is grammatically correct and natural; it’s just slightly less emphatic about together than razem z nami.

Which cases appear in the sentence Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami?

There are three different cases here:

• Dzieci – nominative plural (subject of the sentence)
• parku – locative singular (after w = in, answering where?)
• nami – instrumental plural (after z = with, company)

Recognizing these patterns (preposition → case) is a big part of understanding Polish grammar.

Can I change the word order, for example: W parku dzieci biegają razem z nami? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, Polish word order is quite flexible. All of these are correct:

• Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami.
• W parku dzieci biegają razem z nami.
• Dzieci razem z nami biegają w parku.
• Razem z nami dzieci biegają w parku.

The basic meaning stays the same.
Changing the order slightly shifts the focus or what sounds more important/new, but in everyday speech people will understand them all as: The children are running in the park together with us.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” before dzieci and parku?

Polish does not have articles like English a/an or the.

• dzieci can mean children, the children, or some children
• w parku can mean in a park or in the park

Which one is meant is understood from context, not from a separate word.
So Dzieci biegają w parku razem z nami could be translated as:

• Children are running in the park with us.
• The children are running in the park with us.

Both are possible, depending on the situation.