Po deszczu omijam kałuże na chodniku.

Po in the sense of after takes the locative case in Polish. So deszcz becomes deszczu.

• dictionary form: deszcz = rain
• locative singular: deszczu
• so: po deszczu = after the rain / after rain

This can be confusing because deszczu also looks like the genitive form, but here after po, it is functioning as the locative.

Because omijać takes a direct object in the accusative case, and kałuże is the accusative plural of kałuża.

• dictionary form: kałuża = puddle
• nominative singular: kałuża
• accusative plural: kałuże

So:

• omijam kałuże = I avoid puddles

For feminine nouns like kałuża, the accusative plural often looks the same as the nominative plural.

Because na can mean either:

• on / in a place → with the locative
• onto / to a place → with the accusative

Here there is no movement onto the sidewalk. The puddles are simply located there, so Polish uses the locative:

• chodnik = sidewalk / pavement
• na chodniku = on the sidewalk

So the pattern is:

• location: na chodniku
• movement onto it: na chodnik

They are similar, but not exactly the same.

• omijam = I go around / avoid by not stepping into or hitting something
• unikam = I avoid, often in a broader or more abstract sense

In this sentence, omijam kałuże gives a very physical image: you are walking and deliberately going around the puddles.

Examples:

• Omijam kałuże. = I avoid puddles by going around them.
• Unikam problemów. = I avoid problems.

You can say unikam kałuż, but omijam kałuże sounds especially natural when talking about physically dodging them.

Yes, omijam is 1st person singular present tense of the imperfective verb omijać.

It means:

• I avoid
• I am avoiding
• sometimes I tend to avoid, depending on context

Form breakdown:

• infinitive: omijać
• ja omijam = I avoid

Because it is imperfective, it works well for:

• an action happening now
• a repeated/habitual action
• a general statement

Polish usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• omijam already means I avoid
• so ja is unnecessary unless you want emphasis

Compare:

• Omijam kałuże. = I avoid puddles.
• Ja omijam kałuże. = I avoid puddles. / As for me, I avoid puddles.

Native speakers often leave out ja unless they want contrast or emphasis.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order because case endings show what each word is doing.

The neutral order here is:

• Po deszczu omijam kałuże na chodniku.

But you could also say:

• Omijam kałuże na chodniku po deszczu.
• Kałuże na chodniku omijam po deszczu.

These versions may sound slightly different in focus or emphasis, but the basic meaning stays the same.

Still, the original sentence sounds natural and straightforward.

It can cover both ideas depending on context.

• after the rain
• after it rains
• when the rain is over

Polish often uses this compact expression without needing to spell out the difference as precisely as English sometimes does.

So po deszczu is a very natural way to say that this happens once the rain has finished.

Most naturally, it describes where the puddles are:

• kałuże na chodniku = puddles on the sidewalk

So the sentence is understood as:

• After the rain, I avoid the puddles that are on the sidewalk.

Because of meaning and natural interpretation, it is not usually taken to mean that the avoiding itself happens on the sidewalk in some special contrastive way.

Polish does not have articles like English a/an and the.

So Polish simply says:

• deszcz
• kałuże
• chodnik

Whether something is understood as a puddle, the puddles, or just puddles depends on context.

In this sentence, English may need something like the puddles on the sidewalk, but Polish does not add a separate word for the.

A few parts may be tricky for English speakers:

• deszczu: the cluster szcz is challenging; it sounds roughly like shch
• omijam: stress is on MI → oMIjam
• kałuże:
  • ł sounds like English w
  • ż sounds like the s in measure
• chodniku:
  • ch is a throaty sound, like German Bach or Scottish loch
• Po deszczu omijam kałuże na chodniku
  Stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable of each word:
  • PO
  • deSZCZU
  • oMIjam
  • kaŁUże
  • choDNIku

Polish spelling is fairly regular, but consonant clusters like szcz can take practice.

It can be either, depending on context.

Because omijam is imperfective present, it may mean:

• I am avoiding puddles now
• I avoid puddles after rain as a regular habit
• Whenever it rains, I avoid puddles on the sidewalk

Without extra context, the sentence is slightly open, which is normal in Polish. The form itself does not force only one interpretation.