Dziś gotuję zupę inaczej niż zwykle.

Because gotować takes a direct object, and in Polish a direct object is often put in the accusative case.

• zupa = nominative, the basic dictionary form
• zupę = accusative singular

So:

• Gotuję zupę = I’m cooking soup

This is a very common pattern:

• Jem kanapkę = I’m eating a sandwich
• Czytam książkę = I’m reading a book

In Polish, the present tense often covers both:

• I cook
• I am cooking

So gotuję can mean either, depending on context.

Here, dziś and the whole sentence suggest a situation happening today / this time, so English usually prefers I’m cooking.

Also, gotować is an imperfective verb, so its present tense naturally expresses an ongoing or repeated action.

Gotuję is:

• 1st person singular
• present tense
• from the verb gotować = to cook

So it means I cook / I am cooking.

A few related forms:

• gotujesz = you cook / are cooking
• gotuje = he/she/it cooks / is cooking
• gotujemy = we cook / are cooking

Because in Polish, the verb ending already tells you the subject.

• gotuję clearly means I cook / I am cooking

So ja is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Compare:

• Gotuję zupę. = I’m cooking soup.
• Ja gotuję zupę. = I’m the one cooking soup. / I am cooking soup.

Polish often drops subject pronouns when they are obvious.

It means differently than usual or in a different way than usual.

Breakdown:

• inaczej = differently
• niż = than
• zwykle = usually / as usual / ordinarily

So the structure is a comparison:

• inaczej niż... = differently than...
• tak samo jak... = the same as...

This is a very common Polish comparison pattern.

With a comparative idea like inaczej (differently), Polish normally uses niż.

So:

• inaczej niż zwykle = differently than usual

Using jak here would not be the standard choice.

A useful rule of thumb:

• after comparatives or contrastive expressions, niż is very common
• jak is more common in expressions like tak jak = like / as

For example:

• lepszy niż = better than
• inny niż = different from/than
• tak jak zwykle = as usual

Here zwykle means usually, normally, or as usual, depending on the phrase.

On its own:

• Zwykle gotuję wieczorem. = I usually cook in the evening.

In this sentence, after niż, it works more like:

• than usual
• than I usually do
• than normal

So inaczej niż zwykle is a fixed, natural expression.

Yes. Dziś and dzisiaj both mean today.

• dziś is a bit shorter and very common
• dzisiaj is also completely normal and natural

So you could say:

• Dziś gotuję zupę...
• Dzisiaj gotuję zupę...

Both are correct.

No, Polish word order is fairly flexible, although some orders sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

The original:

• Dziś gotuję zupę inaczej niż zwykle.

This is natural and neutral.

You could also say:

• Gotuję dziś zupę inaczej niż zwykle.
• Zupę dziś gotuję inaczej niż zwykle.

But changing the order changes the focus:

• Dziś at the start emphasizes today
• Zupę at the start emphasizes soup
• keeping inaczej niż zwykle near the end sounds very natural, because it gives the “how” information after the main action

Not in the same way.

Gotować is imperfective, and its present tense can describe what is happening now.

A perfective partner such as ugotować does not normally have a true present meaning. Its “present” forms usually refer to the future:

• Ugotuję zupę = I will cook the soup / I will have the soup cooked

So if you want to say that the action is happening now or today as an ongoing process, gotuję is the right choice.

Because zupę is the direct object of the verb gotuję, and direct objects usually do not need a preposition.

In English, some verbs may need extra words depending on the expression, but in Polish this is just:

• gotować coś = to cook something

So:

• gotuję zupę
• gotuję obiad
• gotuję makaron

No preposition is needed.

Yes, definitely. It is a very natural phrase and useful as a whole pattern.

You can reuse it with many verbs:

• Robię to inaczej niż zwykle. = I’m doing it differently than usual.
• Wygląda inaczej niż zwykle. = He/She looks different than usual.
• Dziś czuję się inaczej niż zwykle. = Today I feel different than usual.

Learning it as a chunk helps you sound more natural.