Ona ma bandaż na nadgarstku, ale rana wygląda już lepiej.

Because Polish uses mieć (to have) here, just like English does in She has a bandage on her wrist.

• ona ma = she has
• jest = is

So:

• Ona ma bandaż = She has a bandage
• Ona jest bandażem would mean something absurd like She is a bandage

Polish often uses mieć in very similar ways to English when talking about possession or something someone is wearing/using on the body.

Yes, very often.

Polish usually drops subject pronouns when they are obvious from the verb form. Since ma already means he/she/it has, you could simply say:

• Ma bandaż na nadgarstku, ale rana wygląda już lepiej.

Adding Ona makes the subject more explicit. It can be used for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarity, if it is not obvious who is being talked about

So both are correct, but Ona is not always necessary.

Because bandaż is the direct object of ma, so it is in the accusative case.

However, bandaż is a masculine inanimate noun, and in Polish, masculine inanimate nouns usually have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular.

So:

• nominative: bandaż
• accusative: bandaż

That is why the form does not change.

Because na can mean on, and when it describes a location, it usually takes the locative case.

Here, the bandage is already in place, so we are talking about location:

• na nadgarstku = on the wrist

The noun nadgarstek changes in the locative:

• nominative: nadgarstek
• locative: nadgarstku

So:

• na nadgarstku = on the wrist

This is a very useful case contrast:

• na nadgarstku = location, on the wrist
• na nadgarstek = direction, onto the wrist

Examples:

• Ma bandaż na nadgarstku. = She has a bandage on her wrist.
• Zakłada bandaż na nadgarstek. = She is putting a bandage onto her wrist.

So:

• na + locative = where something is
• na + accusative = where something is going

Both can be possible, but they are not exactly the same.

• rana wygląda już lepiej = the wound already looks better
• rana jest już lepsza = the wound is already better

In this sentence, wygląda lepiej focuses on appearance, which is very natural for a wound. It means it seems improved visually.

Also, after wyglądać (to look), Polish normally uses an adverb:

• dobrze = well
• lepiej = better

That is why lepiej is used here, not lepsza.

Because the comparative of dobrze is irregular.

• dobrze = well
• lepiej = better

This is similar to English:

• well → better

So:

• wygląda dobrze = looks good/well
• wygląda lepiej = looks better

There is no standard form dobrzej.

Już means already or by now.

In this sentence, it suggests improvement over time:

• rana wygląda już lepiej = the wound looks better already / by now

It often gives the sense that the situation has changed from earlier.

Compare:

• Rana wygląda lepiej. = The wound looks better.
• Rana wygląda już lepiej. = The wound looks better already.

So już adds the idea of progress.

Because rana is the subject of the second clause:

• rana wygląda już lepiej

The wound is the thing doing the looking, grammatically speaking, so it stays in the nominative case.

• nominative: rana
• accusative: ranę

You would use ranę if it were a direct object, for example:

• Widzę ranę. = I see the wound.

But here:

• Rana wygląda lepiej. = The wound looks better.

So nominative is correct.

Yes, in this sentence ale simply means but.

It links two contrasting ideas:

• she still has a bandage on her wrist
• but the wound is already looking better

So the contrast is very similar to English.

Also, in writing, Polish uses a comma before ale, just as in this sentence:

• ..., ale ...

No, Polish word order is fairly flexible, but the given version is natural and neutral:

• Ona ma bandaż na nadgarstku, ale rana wygląda już lepiej.

You could change the order for emphasis, for example:

• Na nadgarstku ma bandaż, ale rana wygląda już lepiej.
• Rana już wygląda lepiej, ale ona ma bandaż na nadgarstku.

These are grammatically possible, but they may sound more marked or place emphasis on different parts of the sentence.

For learners, the original order is a very good default pattern.

Yes, it matters because gender affects case endings and agreement.

In this sentence:

• bandaż is masculine inanimate
• nadgarstek is masculine inanimate
• rana is feminine

You can see the feminine noun clearly in rana, which ends in -a, a very common feminine ending.

Gender matters for things like:

• adjective forms
• case endings
• some past tense forms

For example, if you added an adjective:

• mały bandaż = small bandage
• mała rana = small wound

So learning noun gender early is very helpful.

Yes. Polish uses na in a broad, natural way for something located on a body part.

So bandaż na nadgarstku is the normal way to say a bandage on the wrist, even if in real life it is wrapped around the wrist rather than just resting on top of it.

Languages do not always match physical reality perfectly in prepositions; this is just the normal Polish expression.