Wiertarka leży w garażu obok młotka i śrubokręta.

Leży comes from leżeć, meaning to lie or to be lying. In Polish, it is very common to describe the physical position of an object this way.

So:

• Wiertarka leży w garażu = The drill is lying in the garage
• Wiertarka jest w garażu = The drill is in the garage

Both can be correct, but they are not exactly the same:

• jest only tells you location
• leży suggests the object is resting somewhere, typically horizontally or simply placed somewhere

Polish uses verbs like this more often than English does. English speakers often prefer is, but Polish often sounds more natural with leży, stoi (stands), or wisi (hangs) depending on the object’s position.

Wiertarka is in the nominative singular.

It stays in that form because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the action of leży.

Base form:

• wiertarka = drill

This is also a good reminder that wiertarka is a feminine noun, which is very common for nouns ending in -a.

Because the preposition w means in here, and when w is used for location, it requires the locative case.

So:

• garaż = nominative/basic form
• w garażu = in the garage (locative)

This is a very common Polish pattern:

• w domu = in the house
• w sklepie = in the shop
• w garażu = in the garage

So the important rule is:

• w + location → usually locative

Because garaż is a masculine noun, and in the locative singular it becomes garażu.

Forms:

• garaż = garage
• w garażu = in the garage

The ending -u is one of the normal locative endings for masculine nouns. Unfortunately, you cannot always predict perfectly whether a masculine noun will take -e or -u, so this often has to be learned word by word.

Still, the main thing to remember is:

• after w meaning in, the noun changes to the locative
• for garaż, that form is garażu

Obok means next to, beside, or by.

So:

• obok młotka i śrubokręta = next to the hammer and the screwdriver

It introduces a relationship of nearby position.

A useful thing to remember is that obok is a preposition that requires the genitive case.

Because obok requires the genitive case.

So the nouns change like this:

• młotek → młotka
• śrubokręt → śrubokręta

That is why you get:

• obok młotka i śrubokręta

This is a very important pattern in Polish:

• some prepositions take specific cases
• obok takes the genitive

Other examples:

• obok domu = next to the house
• obok samochodu = next to the car

They are both singular.

Here are the base forms:

• młotek = hammer
• śrubokręt = screwdriver

And here are the forms used after obok:

• młotka = of the hammer / next to the hammer
• śrubokręta = of the screwdriver / next to the screwdriver

Even though English uses the same form after next to, Polish changes the noun because of case.

So this phrase means:

• next to the hammer and the screwdriver not
• next to hammers and screwdrivers

Because Polish has no articles.

English says:

• the drill
• a garage
• the hammer

Polish simply says:

• wiertarka
• garaż
• młotek

Whether something means a or the depends on context.

So:

• Wiertarka leży w garażu can mean The drill is in the garage or A drill is in the garage, depending on the situation.

In most teaching examples like this, the natural English translation is usually the drill is lying in the garage next to the hammer and the screwdriver.

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible.

The sentence:

• Wiertarka leży w garażu obok młotka i śrubokręta.

is a natural, neutral order.

But other orders are also possible, for example:

• W garażu leży wiertarka obok młotka i śrubokręta.
• Obok młotka i śrubokręta leży wiertarka w garażu.

These alternatives may sound more marked or place emphasis on a different part of the sentence.

In general:

• putting Wiertarka first makes the drill the topic
• putting W garażu first emphasizes the location
• putting Obok młotka i śrubokręta first emphasizes where exactly it is

So the original word order is probably the most neutral and beginner-friendly version.

Normally it means the drill is positioned next to the hammer and the screwdriver as a group — in other words, beside those tools.

It does not usually mean next to either one in an ambiguous way.

The phrase:

• obok młotka i śrubokręta

most naturally suggests:

• there is a hammer and a screwdriver there
• the drill is next to them

Because i is the normal Polish word for and.

So:

• młotka i śrubokręta = hammer and screwdriver

It joins the two nouns together, and both nouns stay in the case required by obok, which is why both are in the genitive.

Śrubokręta can be difficult for English speakers because of the Polish sound ś.

A rough guide:

• ś is a soft sh-like sound, but lighter and more forward than English sh
• śru sounds roughly like shroo, but softer
• krę contains ę, which is a nasal vowel
• ta is straightforward

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but it helps to notice:

• ś and sz are different sounds in Polish
• ę is also a special Polish vowel

The base word is:

• śrubokręt = screwdriver

and śrubokręta is its genitive singular form.

Yes, leży is present tense, third person singular.

The infinitive is:

• leżeć = to lie / to be lying

So:

• ja leżę = I am lying
• on/ona/ono leży = he/she/it is lying

In this sentence, wiertarka is singular, so the verb is singular too:

• Wiertarka leży = The drill is lying

Not always, but it is very natural if the drill is resting somewhere, for example on a shelf, floor, or bench.

Other possibilities include:

• Wiertarka jest w garażu = The drill is in the garage
• Wiertarka stoi w garażu = The drill is standing in the garage

The choice depends on how the speaker imagines the object:

• leży = lying/resting
• stoi = standing/upright
• jest = simply located there

So leży is not the only option, but it is a very normal and natural one.