Dzieci lubią borówki, a babcia woli mandarynki i brzoskwinie.

Because dzieci is a plural subject, so the verb must also be plural.

• dzieci = children
• lubią = they like

The singular would be:

• dziecko lubi = the child likes

A useful thing to remember is that dzieci is an irregular plural of dziecko.

Because babcia is singular, so the verb is singular too.

• babcia = grandma / grandmother
• woli = prefers

So:

• babcia woli = grandma prefers

Compare:

• babcia woli = singular
• babcie wolą = plural, grandmas prefer

They come from two different verbs:

• lubić = to like
• woleć = to prefer

So the sentence is contrasting two ideas:

• Dzieci lubią borówki = The children like blueberries
• babcia woli mandarynki i brzoskwinie = grandma prefers tangerines and peaches

So woleć is stronger or more specific than lubić: it means choosing one thing over another.

In Polish, a often links two clauses with a mild contrast.

Here it works like:

• and
• while
• whereas
• sometimes even but, depending on context

So in this sentence:

• Dzieci lubią borówki, a babcia woli mandarynki i brzoskwinie.

the idea is something like:

• The children like blueberries, while grandma prefers tangerines and peaches.

It is not exactly the same as i.

• a connects two separate ideas and often suggests contrast
• i simply means and and joins words or similar elements

That is why the fruits at the end are joined with i, but the two halves of the sentence are joined with a.

They are the direct objects of the verbs lubić and woleć, so in Polish they are in the accusative case.

However, for these particular nouns, the plural accusative looks the same as the plural nominative, so the forms do not visibly change.

Dictionary forms:

• borówka = blueberry
• mandarynka = tangerine / mandarin
• brzoskwinia = peach

Plural forms here:

• borówki
• mandarynki
• brzoskwinie

Even though the case is accusative, they look the same as the normal plural forms.

A useful comparison with the singular:

• Lubię borówkę. = I like a blueberry.
• Lubię borówki. = I like blueberries.

In the singular, you can clearly see the accusative ending -ę on borówkę.

Yes. All three fruit nouns here are feminine singular nouns in their dictionary forms:

• ta borówka
• ta mandarynka
• ta brzoskwinia

Their plurals are:

• te borówki
• te mandarynki
• te brzoskwinie

This is useful because feminine nouns often follow recognizable patterns in singular and plural forms.

Because Polish has no articles.

English says:

• the children
• grandma
• blueberries
• the peaches

Polish simply says:

• dzieci
• babcia
• borówki
• brzoskwinie

Whether the meaning is a, the, or just a general plural is understood from context.

So Dzieci lubią borówki can mean:

• Children like blueberries
• The children like blueberries

depending on the situation.

Yes, Polish word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence as given:

• Dzieci lubią borówki, a babcia woli mandarynki i brzoskwinie.

is a very natural, neutral order.

But Polish can move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Borówki lubią dzieci, a mandarynki i brzoskwinie woli babcia.

This still makes grammatical sense, but it sounds more marked or emphatic, as if emphasizing what each person likes.

So the original version is best for a normal statement.

A few pronunciation points that often help English speakers:

• dzieci: roughly JYEH-chee
  • dz and ie together make a sound that can be tricky at first
• lubią: roughly LOO-byaw̃
  • ą is a nasal vowel
• borówki: roughly bo-ROOF-kee
  • ó sounds like u
• babcia: roughly BAP-cha
  • cia sounds like a soft cha
• woli: roughly VOH-lee
  • Polish w sounds like English v
• mandarynki: roughly man-da-RIN-kee
• brzoskwinie: roughly bzhos-KVEE-nye

A few key spelling-pronunciation facts from this sentence:

• w = English v
• ó = u
• ci / cia / cie often make a soft ch-like sound
• ą is nasal

Yes, babcia is the common everyday word for grandma or gran.

It is warm and natural in family use. The more formal word is:

• babka in some contexts, but this can sound dialectal or have other meanings
• babunia can sound extra affectionate
• grandmother as a very formal English equivalent is usually still just babcia in normal Polish family speech

So in a simple sentence like this, babcia is exactly the word you would expect.

Because i simply means and when joining items in a list.

So:

• mandarynki i brzoskwinie = tangerines and peaches

This is different from a, which joins larger parts of the sentence and often suggests a contrast.

So the sentence uses both:

• a = links the two clauses
• i = links the two fruit nouns in the second clause

They are:

• lubić = to like
• woleć = to prefer

The forms in the sentence are:

• lubią = they like
• woli = he/she prefers

More specifically:

• dzieci lubią = children like
• babcia woli = grandma prefers

If you want a quick mini-pattern:

For lubić:

• lubię = I like
• lubisz = you like
• lubi = he/she likes
• lubimy = we like
• lubicie = you all like
• lubią = they like

For woleć:

• wolę = I prefer
• wolisz = you prefer
• woli = he/she prefers
• wolimy = we prefer
• wolicie = you all prefer
• wolą = they prefer

Usually yes in basic learning contexts, but there is a small cultural vocabulary note.

In Polish, borówka can refer to berries that English speakers may label differently depending on region or species. In everyday learner materials, though, borówki is very commonly translated as blueberries, and that is the safest translation here.

So for this sentence, blueberries is perfectly fine.