Moja szczoteczka do zębów leży obok umywalki.

Because szczoteczka is a feminine noun in Polish, and adjectives/possessives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• mój = my (masculine)
• moja = my (feminine)
• moje = my (neuter)

So:

• moja szczoteczka = my toothbrush

If the noun were masculine, you would use mój, for example:

• mój kubek = my mug

Szczoteczka means small brush, and in this sentence it specifically means toothbrush because of do zębów.

It comes from:

• szczotka = brush
• szczoteczka = little brush / brush with a diminutive ending

In Polish, szczoteczka do zębów is the normal way to say toothbrush.

Polish often uses a noun + do + genitive structure to express what something is for.

So:

• szczoteczka do zębów = brush for teeth
• natural English translation: toothbrush

This pattern is very common:

• pasta do zębów = toothpaste
• szczotka do włosów = hairbrush
• maszynka do golenia = razor / shaving machine

So even though English uses one compound word, Polish often uses a phrase.

Because the preposition do requires the genitive case.

The basic form is:

• zęby = teeth

But after do, it changes to the genitive plural:

• do zębów = for teeth / of teeth

So:

• szczoteczka do zębów is grammatically correct
• szczoteczka do zęby is incorrect

Zębów is the genitive plural form of zęby.

Here are the key forms:

• ząb = tooth
• zęby = teeth
• zębów = of teeth / for teeth

The vowel changes too:

• ąb → ęb This kind of stem alternation is common in Polish.

Leży means is lying or is lying/resting somewhere, so it gives more specific information about position.

• jest obok umywalki = is next to the sink
• leży obok umywalki = is lying next to the sink

For objects placed horizontally or resting somewhere, Polish often uses:

• leżeć = to lie

Other common position verbs are:

• stać = to stand
• wisieć = to hang

So leży sounds more natural for a toothbrush than just jest.

Because obok requires the genitive case.

The dictionary form is:

• umywalka = sink / washbasin

After obok, it becomes:

• umywalki

So:

• obok umywalki = next to the sink

This is a very common pattern:

• obok domu = next to the house
• obok szkoły = next to the school
• obok łóżka = next to the bed

It is genitive singular.

The noun is:

• umywalka = sink

Its genitive singular form is:

• umywalki

It appears here because the preposition obok takes the genitive.

So the structure is:

• obok + genitive
• do + genitive

This sentence is a good example of two different genitive phrases:

• do zębów
• obok umywalki

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible because the endings show grammatical relationships.

The neutral order here is:

• Moja szczoteczka do zębów leży obok umywalki.

But you could also say:

• Obok umywalki leży moja szczoteczka do zębów.
• Moja szczoteczka leży obok umywalki.

Changing the order usually changes the focus or emphasis, not the core meaning.

For example:

• Obok umywalki leży moja szczoteczka do zębów puts more focus on where it is.

It is tricky for English speakers because of the consonant clusters.

A rough breakdown:

• szcz sounds approximately like shch
• o like o in off
• tecz roughly tech with a soft Polish sound
• ka = kah

Very rough English-style approximation:

• shcho-TECH-kah

But the real Polish pronunciation is more compact and sharper than English.

A few useful sound notes:

• sz sounds like sh
• cz sounds like ch in chop
• together szcz is a cluster, not two separate syllables

A few important pronunciation points:

• zębów

  • ę is a nasal vowel
  • before b, it is often pronounced somewhat like em
  • so zębów may sound roughly like zem-boof to an English ear

• leży

  • ż sounds like the s in measure
  • rough approximation: LEH-zhih

• umywalki

  • ł sounds like English w
  • so the middle part sounds like val
  • rough approximation: oo-mih-VAL-kih

These approximations are not exact, but they help as a starting point.

Yes. You can say:

• Szczoteczka do zębów leży obok umywalki.

That means:

• The toothbrush is lying next to the sink or
• A toothbrush is lying next to the sink

Adding moja makes it specifically my toothbrush.

In Polish, possessives are often omitted if the context already makes ownership clear, but keeping moja is perfectly natural and useful when you want to be explicit.

Usually yes in this kind of sentence, but more precisely umywalka is a washbasin or bathroom sink.

So:

• umywalka usually refers to the sink you wash your hands or face in
• a kitchen sink may also be called zlew

In this toothbrush sentence, umywalka is exactly the natural word, because a toothbrush would normally be near a bathroom sink.

Yes. Leży is the 3rd person singular present tense form of leżeć.

So:

• ja leżę = I am lying
• ty leżysz = you are lying
• on/ona/ono leży = he/she/it is lying

Since szczoteczka is a singular noun, the verb is singular too:

• szczoteczka leży

Yes, it sounds natural and correct.

It is a normal everyday sentence:

• Moja szczoteczka do zębów leży obok umywalki.

A native speaker might also say:

• Moja szczoteczka do zębów jest obok umywalki.

But leży is often slightly more vivid and natural for an object resting on a surface.