Nie mam apetytu, ale i tak zjem kolację.

In Polish, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb already shows the person.

• mam = I have
• so Nie mam already means I don't have

You can add ja for emphasis or contrast:

• Ja nie mam apetytu, ale on ma. = I don’t feel like eating, but he does.

In a neutral sentence, Nie mam apetytu is the most natural form.

Because after nie mam (I don't have), Polish normally uses the genitive case.

The basic dictionary form is:

• apetyt = appetite

But after mam / nie mam:

• mam apetyt = I have an appetite
• nie mam apetytu = I don’t have an appetite

This is a very common pattern in Polish:

• mam czas / nie mam czasu
• mam pieniądze / nie mam pieniędzy

So apetytu is the genitive singular form of apetyt.

Not exactly. It’s close, but the nuance is a little different.

• Nie mam apetytu = I don’t have an appetite / I don’t feel like eating
• Nie jestem głodny / głodna = I’m not hungry

Sometimes these mean almost the same thing in real life, but nie mam apetytu focuses more on lack of desire to eat, not just lack of hunger.

Ale i tak means something like:

• but anyway
• but even so
• but still

So:

• Nie mam apetytu, ale i tak zjem kolację. = I don’t have an appetite, but I’ll eat dinner anyway.

Here i tak is a fixed expression. Don’t translate it word by word as just and yes/so. As a phrase, it means regardless of that or despite that.

No. In this sentence, tak is not the word for yes.

Polish tak can mean several things depending on context, including:

• yes
• so / like this
• as part of expressions such as i tak

In i tak, the whole phrase means anyway / even so, so it’s best to learn it as one unit.

Because zjem refers to a future completed action: I will eat.

• jem = I am eating / I eat
• zjem = I will eat / I’ll eat up / I’ll have

The verb zjeść is perfective, so its present-tense forms are used with future meaning:

• zjem = I will eat
• zjesz = you will eat
• zje = he/she/it will eat

So zjem kolację means I’ll eat dinner.

The infinitive is zjeść.

This can be confusing because the form changes quite a lot:

• zjeść = to eat up / to eat
• zjem = I will eat
• zjesz = you will eat
• zje = he/she/it will eat

It’s related to the imperfective verb jeść (to eat), but zjeść is perfective.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Polish.

• jeść = imperfective
• zjeść = perfective

In this sentence, zjem kolację suggests a complete event: I’ll eat the dinner / I’ll have dinner.

That sounds natural, because meals are often treated as completed events in Polish:

• zjem śniadanie
• zjem obiad
• zjem kolację

If you used the imperfective, you would usually say something like:

• będę jeść kolację = I’ll be eating dinner

That focuses more on the process, not the completed event.

Because kolacja is the direct object of zjem, so it takes the accusative case.

The dictionary form is:

• kolacja = dinner, supper

But in the accusative singular:

• kolację

So:

• Zjem kolację. = I’ll eat dinner.

This is a normal pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -a:

• kawa → kawę
• herbata → herbatę
• kolacja → kolację

Because Polish has no articles.

English needs words like:

• a
• an
• the

Polish does not use them. So:

• zjem kolację can mean I’ll eat dinner or, depending on context, I’ll eat the dinner

Usually the context makes the meaning clear.

Yes, normally it is.

In Polish, ale (but) usually introduces a new clause, and a comma is placed before it:

• Nie mam apetytu, ale i tak zjem kolację.

This is similar to English, where a comma is also often used before but when joining two clauses.

Yes, Polish word order is flexible, although some versions sound more neutral than others.

The original sentence is very natural and neutral:

• Nie mam apetytu, ale i tak zjem kolację.

You could also say:

• Nie mam apetytu, ale kolację i tak zjem.
• Kolację i tak zjem, choć nie mam apetytu.

These versions shift emphasis a bit. For example:

• kolację i tak zjem puts more focus on dinner or on the fact that the speaker will eat it regardless

For a learner, the original version is the safest and most natural one to use.

You could, but it sounds less natural in this context.

• zjem kolację = I’ll eat dinner / I’ll have dinner
• będę jeść kolację = I’ll be eating dinner

The second version focuses on the action in progress, not the whole event. When talking about meals, Polish very often prefers the perfective form:

• zjem śniadanie
• zjem obiad
• zjem kolację

So zjem kolację is the more natural choice here.

It can mean either, depending on the speaker and context.

In Polish:

• śniadanie = breakfast
• obiad = the main meal of the day, often earlier than English dinner
• kolacja = evening meal, often supper or dinner

So the best English translation depends on the situation. If the meaning has already been given to the learner as dinner, that’s fine, but supper may also be possible in other contexts.