Ta gąbka leży w kuchni, bo przed chwilą myłam nią talerze.

Because gąbka is a feminine noun in Polish, and ta is the feminine form of this/that.

Polish demonstratives change for gender:

• ten = masculine
• ta = feminine
• to = neuter

So:

• ten talerz = this plate
• ta gąbka = this sponge
• to krzesło = this chair

Leży means is lying / is located lying down, not just is.

In Polish, verbs like leżeć often describe both:

• the location of something
• and its physical position

So Ta gąbka leży w kuchni means something like:

• This sponge is in the kitchen
• literally: This sponge is lying in the kitchen

If you said Ta gąbka jest w kuchni, that would also mean The sponge is in the kitchen, but it is more neutral and less vivid. Leży sounds natural because a sponge is the kind of thing that can be lying somewhere.

Przed chwilą means a moment ago, just now, or a little while ago.

Literally, it is:

• przed = before
• chwila = moment

So the phrase means before a moment, which naturally becomes a moment ago in English.

It is a very common expression for something that happened very recently.

Myłam is the past tense, 1st person singular, feminine form of myć (to wash).

So:

• myłam = I was washing / I washed said by a woman
• myłem = the same, but said by a man

The ending tells you the speaker’s gender:

• -am in this form = feminine speaker
• -em in this form = masculine speaker

As for myłam vs umyłam:

• myć is imperfective
• umyć is perfective

Here, myłam focuses on the activity: I was washing / I washed Umyłam would stress completion: I washed them completely / I got them washed

With przed chwilą, both can be possible in different contexts, but myłam sounds very natural if the speaker is simply explaining what they were doing a moment ago.

This is one of the most important points in the sentence.

• ją would mean her/it as a direct object
• nią is the instrumental form, meaning roughly with it / by means of it

Compare:

• Myłam ją = I washed it
  (the sponge itself is what was washed)

• Myłam nią talerze = I washed the plates with it
  (the sponge is the tool used for washing)

So in this sentence, nią is used because the sponge is not what was washed; it is what the speaker used to wash the plates.

This corresponds to the noun pattern:

• myłam talerze gąbką = I washed the plates with a sponge
• pronoun version: myłam nią talerze = I washed the plates with it

Because in Polish, the instrumental case often expresses with by itself, especially with tools or means.

So:

• myć talerze gąbką = to wash plates with a sponge
• pisać długopisem = to write with a pen
• kroić nożem = to cut with a knife

Polish does sometimes use z for with, but that usually means together with, not using as a tool.

Compare:

• Idę z mamą = I’m going with my mum
• Myję talerze gąbką = I wash plates with a sponge

So here, no separate word for with is needed.

Talerze is the accusative plural form of talerz (plate).

In this sentence, the plates are the direct object of myłam:

• I washed what? → plates

For many masculine inanimate nouns in Polish, the accusative plural is the same as the nominative plural.

So:

• singular: talerz
• plural nominative: talerze
• plural accusative: talerze

That is why the form here is talerze, not something else.

Because Polish usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb already shows who is doing the action.

Myłam already means I was washing / I washed, so ja is unnecessary.

Polish often drops pronouns like:

• ja = I
• ty = you
• on/ona/ono = he/she/it

You add them mainly for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarification

For example:

• Myłam nią talerze = neutral, natural
• Ja myłam nią talerze = I washed the plates with it (maybe not someone else)

Because bo introduces a reason clause, and in Polish that clause is normally separated by a comma.

So:

• Ta gąbka leży w kuchni, bo przed chwilą myłam nią talerze.

This is standard punctuation.

Bo means because, and Polish generally puts a comma before conjunctions introducing subordinate clauses like this.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order, because grammatical endings carry a lot of information.

The basic sentence:

• Ta gąbka leży w kuchni, bo przed chwilą myłam nią talerze.

But you could also hear variations such as:

• Ta gąbka leży w kuchni, bo myłam nią przed chwilą talerze.
• W kuchni leży ta gąbka, bo przed chwilą myłam nią talerze.

These versions shift emphasis slightly:

• putting w kuchni first can emphasize location
• moving przed chwilą changes what sounds most prominent
• keeping nią close to myłam can highlight the instrument

Even so, the original sentence sounds natural and straightforward.

No. You could also use words like ponieważ or dlatego że.

For example:

• Ta gąbka leży w kuchni, ponieważ przed chwilą myłam nią talerze.

But there is a difference in style:

• bo = very common, everyday, natural in speech
• ponieważ = a bit more formal or written
• dlatego że = also possible, sometimes a bit more emphatic

In normal conversation, bo is usually the most natural choice.

Nią is pronounced roughly like nyon but with a nasal final vowel.

A few details:

• ni before a vowel sounds like a soft ny
• ą is a nasal vowel, often sounding a bit like on or om depending on context

So nią is approximately:

• nyaw̃ or more simply for an English speaker:
• nyon (rough approximation)

Also, in gąbka, the ą is often heard approximately like om before b, so gąbka sounds roughly like gomp-ka.

These are only approximations, but they help at the early stage.

Adding ta makes the sponge more specific: this/that sponge.

So:

• Gąbka leży w kuchni = A/The sponge is in the kitchen
• Ta gąbka leży w kuchni = This/that sponge is in the kitchen

In context, ta often points to a particular sponge already known, visible, or being talked about. It gives the sentence a more definite, concrete feeling.