W środę mam dyżur od ósmej do południa.

Because środa is the dictionary form, but after w when you mean on Wednesday, Polish uses the accusative.

• nominative: środa = Wednesday
• accusative: środę

So:

• w środę = on Wednesday

This is very common with days of the week. For feminine day names, you often see this ending change:

• środa → w środę
• sobota → w sobotę
• niedziela → w niedzielę

In Polish, names of days of the week are normally written with a lowercase letter.

So:

• w środę = on Wednesday
• w poniedziałek = on Monday

This is different from English, where Wednesday must be capitalized.

Dyżur means a duty shift, being on duty, or sometimes being on call, depending on context.

It is often used for jobs or situations where someone is officially responsible during a certain period, for example:

• a doctor’s duty shift
• a teacher supervising students
• a worker covering a shift
• someone being on call

So mam dyżur usually means something like:

• I’m on duty
• I have a duty shift
• I’m on call

The exact English translation depends on the situation.

Because that is the normal Polish way to express this idea. Polish often uses mam + a noun where English would use a different structure.

So:

• mam dyżur = I’m on duty / I have duty
• literally: I have a duty shift

This is idiomatic Polish. A learner should treat it as a standard expression, not translate it word for word into English.

Because od requires the genitive case, and the time expression changes form.

The basic form is:

• ósma = eighth

When talking about time, Polish is really shortening a phrase like:

• od ósmej godziny = from the eighth hour

Since godzina is feminine, the numeral agrees with it, and after od it goes into the genitive:

• ósma → ósmej

So:

• od ósmej = from eight o’clock

In Polish, clock times are often expressed with forms based on ordinal numbers, not cardinal numbers.

So instead of thinking:

• eight

Polish often thinks more like:

• the eighth hour

That is why you get forms like:

• o ósmej = at eight
• od ósmej = from eight

This is very normal in Polish time expressions.

Because do also requires the genitive case.

The noun is:

• południe = noon

In the genitive, it becomes:

• południa

So:

• do południa = until noon / till noon

The whole phrase:

• od ósmej do południa = from eight until noon

It can mean both, depending on context.

• południe = noon
• południe = south

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly noon, because of the time expression:

• od ósmej do południa = from eight until noon

So context tells you which meaning is intended.

No, not necessarily.

Od ósmej do południa already clearly means from eight until noon, so it is obvious that this is morning time.

You could say:

• od ósmej rano do południa

but it is not necessary here. Polish often leaves out words like rano if the meaning is already clear.

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

This sentence:

• W środę mam dyżur od ósmej do południa.

is very natural.

But you could also say:

• Mam dyżur w środę od ósmej do południa.
• Od ósmej do południa mam dyżur w środę.

These versions are all understandable, but they may shift the emphasis slightly.

The original sentence feels natural because it starts with the time frame W środę and then gives the main information.

No. Polish does not have a/an/the articles.

So Polish simply says:

• mam dyżur

and context tells you whether English should use:

• a shift
• the shift
• no article in a phrase like I’m on duty

This is a general difference between Polish and English, not something special about this sentence.

A rough guide:

• środę ≈ SHRO-deh
• dyżur ≈ DIH-zhoor

A few useful notes:

• ś is a soft sh sound
• ż sounds like the s in measure
• ó is pronounced like u
• final ę is often not pronounced like a full nasal vowel in everyday speech; learners often approximate it with something like e

So you do not need to pronounce every letter exactly like in English spelling. The Polish sounds are a bit different.