Latem biegamy pod górę w parku.

In the summer we run uphill in the park.

Breakdown of Latem biegamy pod górę w parku.

• w: in
• biegać: to run
• park: the park
• my: we
• latem: in the summer
• pod górę: uphill

Questions & Answers about Latem biegamy pod górę w parku.

What form is latem, and why isn’t there a preposition like w before it?

Latem is the instrumental singular form of lato (summer), used adverbially to mean in (the) summer / during summer.
Polish often uses the instrumental without a preposition to express time, especially with seasons:

• latem – in (the) summer
• zimą – in (the) winter
• wiosną – in (the) spring
• jesienią – in (the) autumn

So Latem biegamy… literally is “(In) summer, we run…” without needing w.

Could I also say W lecie biegamy pod górę w parku? Is there a difference from Latem biegamy…?

Yes, W lecie biegamy pod górę w parku is grammatically correct and means essentially the same thing.
Nuance:

• Latem sounds a bit more neutral and very common in everyday speech.
• W lecie also means in the summer, slightly more explicit, sometimes a bit more “spelled out,” but not wrong or strange.

Both are fine; latem is just more compact and idiomatic.

What person and tense is biegamy, and what verb is it from?

Biegamy is:

• 1st person plural (we)
• Present tense
• Imperfective aspect
• From the verb biegać (to run, in the sense of running in general/habitually).

So biegamy means we run / we are running, depending on context. Here it describes a regular activity in summer.

Why is biegać used here and not biec?

Polish has two common verbs for to run:

• biegać – imperfective, repeated / habitual / general running
• biec – imperfective too, but used for one specific movement in progress

Since the sentence talks about a habitual action in the summer, biegać is the natural choice: Latem biegamy… = We (usually) run in summer…
If you focused on one specific occasion right now, you might say Biegniemy pod górę (We’re running uphill [this time, right now]).

Does biegamy mean we run or we are running? How do you show the English continuous (-ing)?

Biegamy can mean both we run and we are running. Polish does not have a separate continuous tense like English.
The difference is understood from context or by adding time expressions:

• Latem biegamy… → generally: We (usually) run in summer…
• Teraz biegamy pod górę → now: Right now we are running uphill.

What does pod górę literally mean, and which case is górę?

Pod górę literally means up the hill or uphill.
Here:

• pod is a preposition
• górę is the accusative singular of góra (hill, mountain).

With pod, the accusative is used for movement towards a place, so pod górę = towards/up the hill, i.e. uphill.

Why is it pod górę (accusative) and not pod górą (instrumental)?

The preposition pod takes:

• Accusative when there is movement toward something
• Instrumental when describing location (no movement)

Compare:

• Biegamy pod górę – We run uphill (movement, direction → accusative)
• Biegamy pod górą – We run at/under the hill (we’re located there, not necessarily going upward → instrumental)

So górę (accusative) is correct for running uphill.

Is pod górę just literal, or is it also an expression?

It is both:

1. Literal: physically moving uphill.
2. Figurative: something is difficult / going against resistance, similar to English “it’s an uphill struggle”.

In this sentence, the default reading is literal (running uphill in a park), unless context suggests a metaphor.

What case is w parku, and why does it end in -u and not -e?

W parku uses:

• w
  • locative case
• park → w parku in the locative

Masculine nouns often form the locative with -e or -u. Park belongs to the group that takes -u, hence w parku (in the park), not w parke.

Does w parku mean in a park or in the park? How do articles work in Polish?

Polish has no articles (no direct equivalents of a/an/the).
W parku can mean:

• in a park
• in the park

The exact meaning comes from context or by adding more detail:

• w tym parku – in this park
• w naszym parku – in our park
• w tamtym parku – in that park over there

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Latem w parku biegamy pod górę or Biegamy latem pod górę w parku?

Word order in Polish is fairly flexible, because grammar is shown by endings, not position.
All of these are grammatically correct:

• Latem biegamy pod górę w parku.
• Latem w parku biegamy pod górę.
• Biegamy latem pod górę w parku.

The default-sounding version is the original one. Changing the order can slightly shift emphasis (what you want to highlight), but doesn’t change the basic meaning here.

Why is there no comma after Latem?

In Polish, short adverbials of time at the beginning of a sentence (like latem, wczoraj, rano) are usually not separated by a comma.
You might see a comma if the initial phrase is longer or more detached, e.g.:

• Latem, kiedy mamy więcej czasu, biegamy pod górę w parku.

But with just Latem, no comma is standard.

How would I emphasize that this is something we do regularly every summer?

The sentence already suggests a habitual action, but you can make it even more explicit by adding adverbs or frequency expressions:

• Latem często biegamy pod górę w parku. – In summer we often run uphill in the park.
• Każdego lata biegamy pod górę w parku. – Every summer we run uphill in the park.
• Zawsze latem biegamy pod górę w parku. – We always run uphill in the park in summer.