Proszę nie dotykać piekarnika.

Here, proszę works like please.

Literally, proszę comes from the verb prosić and means I ask or I request, but in everyday Polish it is very often used in polite expressions. In this sentence, proszę + infinitive means something like please do not...

So:

• proszę nie dotykać = please do not touch

This is a very common polite pattern in Polish.

Because after proszę, Polish very often uses the infinitive.

So:

• proszę nie dotykać = polite, neutral, common in notices and formal speech
• nie dotykaj = direct singular command, informal
• nie dotykajcie = direct plural command

A native English speaker may expect something like please don’t touch with an imperative, but Polish often prefers proszę + infinitive for polite requests.

That is why dotykać appears in its dictionary form rather than as a command form.

Because in Polish, nie is normally written separately from verbs, including infinitives.

So you write:

• nie dotykać
• nie robić
• nie mówić

This is standard spelling.

English learners sometimes want to join them together, but with verbs, nie is usually separate.

Because the verb dotykać requires the genitive case, not the nominative.

The basic form is:

• piekarnik = oven

But after dotykać, it changes to:

• piekarnika = of the oven / the oven, in the form required by this verb

So:

• dotykać piekarnika
• dotykać stołu
• dotykać ekranu

This is something you simply have to learn with the verb: dotykać takes the genitive.

It is genitive singular.

The noun is:

• piekarnik — nominative singular

And in the sentence it becomes:

• piekarnika — genitive singular

This is not because of nie. It is because of the verb dotykać itself.

Dotykać is the imperfective verb, while dotknąć is the perfective partner.

In warnings, rules, and general instructions, Polish usually prefers the imperfective form, because it is talking about the action in a general way:

• proszę nie dotykać piekarnika = please do not touch the oven

Using dotknąć here would sound unnatural in this kind of notice. The imperfective dotykać is the normal choice for a general prohibition like this.

It is polite, neutral, and fairly formal.

It sounds natural in places like:

• signs
• instructions
• public notices
• safety warnings
• a staff member speaking politely to someone

Compare:

• Proszę nie dotykać piekarnika. — polite/formal
• Nie dotykaj piekarnika! — direct, informal, singular
• Nie dotykajcie piekarnika! — direct, informal, plural
• Nie dotykać piekarnika. — very typical sign-style wording, a bit less personally polite

So this sentence is especially good for a polite warning.

Yes, you can say:

• Nie dotykać piekarnika.

That is common on signs and written warnings. It sounds more like an impersonal instruction: Do not touch the oven.

Adding proszę makes it softer and more polite:

• Proszę nie dotykać piekarnika.

So both are correct, but the version with proszę sounds more courteous.

Yes, Polish word order is more flexible than English, but the most natural neutral order here is:

• Proszę nie dotykać piekarnika.

You may also hear or see:

• Piekarnika proszę nie dotykać.

This puts more emphasis on the oven specifically.

So the order can change, but for a learner, the original version is the safest and most natural default.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• Proszę ≈ PRO-sheh
• nie ≈ nyeh
• dotykać ≈ do-TIH-kach
• piekarnika ≈ pye-kar-NEE-ka

A few useful points:

• sz sounds like sh
• nie is pronounced like nye
• pie sounds roughly like pye
• stress in Polish usually falls on the second-to-last syllable

So the sentence has stress like this:

• PRO-szę nie do-TY-kać pie-kar-NI-ka