Gdy pada deszcz, wycieraczki pracują szybko, a szyba nadal nie jest czysta.

When it rains, the wipers work quickly, and the window is still not clean.

Breakdown of Gdy pada deszcz, wycieraczki pracują szybko, a szyba nadal nie jest czysta.

• być: to be
• pracować: to work
• nie: not
• szybko: quickly

Questions & Answers about Gdy pada deszcz, wycieraczki pracują szybko, a szyba nadal nie jest czysta.

Why does the sentence start with gdy? Does it mean when?

Yes. Gdy means when here. It introduces a time clause: Gdy pada deszcz = When it rains / When rain is falling.

A learner will also often see kiedy. In this sentence, gdy and kiedy are very close in meaning, and both would be natural. Gdy can sound a little more neutral or written, while kiedy is very common in everyday speech.

Why does Polish say pada deszcz instead of using one verb for to rain?

Polish commonly expresses this idea with pada deszcz, literally something like rain is falling. The verb is padać, which can mean to fall, and in weather expressions it is used for rain, snow, etc.

So:

• Pada deszcz = It is raining
• Pada śnieg = It is snowing

English uses the dummy subject it, but Polish does not need that here.

What form is pada?

Pada is the 3rd person singular present tense form of padać.

It is singular because deszcz is singular. So grammatically, the sentence is built like rain falls rather than it rains.

What exactly does wycieraczki mean?