Rozkład jazdy na peronie był mały i trudno było go przeczytać, więc sprawdziłam godzinę w telefonie.

Rozkład jazdy is the standard Polish expression for a timetable or schedule.

Literally, it breaks down like this:

• rozkład = arrangement, layout, schedule
• jazdy = of travel / of riding / of transport

So literally it is something like the arrangement of journeys.

This is a fixed expression in Polish, especially for train, bus, or tram schedules.

Because rozkład is a masculine noun in Polish, so the adjective and past-tense verb agree with it.

• rozkład = masculine
• therefore: był mały = was small

If the noun were feminine, you would get forms like:

• tablica była mała = the board was small

So the grammar agrees with rozkład, not with jazdy.

Jazdy is in the genitive singular form of jazda.

In the expression rozkład jazdy, the second noun tells you what kind of schedule it is:

• rozkład czego? = schedule of what?
• jazdy = of travel / of transport

This is very common in Polish. English often uses noun + noun combinations, but Polish often uses a noun followed by the genitive:

• plan lekcji = lesson plan / class schedule
• numer telefonu = phone number
• stacja metra = metro station

Because na + locative is used here to mean on the platform or at the platform as a location.

• basic form: peron = platform
• locative after na: na peronie

So:

• na peronie = on the platform

This is normal location grammar in Polish:

• na stole = on the table
• na dworcu = at the station
• na przystanku = at the bus stop

Because trudno było przeczytać is a very natural impersonal structure in Polish meaning:

• it was difficult to read

Here, trudno is an adverb, and było creates the past-tense impersonal expression.

So:

• trudno = difficult
• trudno było = it was difficult
• trudno było go przeczytać = it was difficult to read it

The version było trudne go przeczytać sounds unnatural in Polish.

Very common patterns are:

• łatwo było znaleźć = it was easy to find
• trudno było zrozumieć = it was difficult to understand
• miło było poznać = it was nice to meet

Go means it.

It is the accusative form of the masculine pronoun referring back to rozkład jazdy.

So:

• rozkład = masculine noun
• go = him / it, used here as it

In this sentence:

• trudno było go przeczytać = it was difficult to read it

Compare:

• Widzę pociąg. Widzę go. = I see the train. I see it.
• Mam telefon. Mam go przy sobie. = I have the phone. I have it with me.

Because przeczytać is the perfective verb, and it suggests reading something through / successfully reading it.

Polish has aspect:

• czytać = imperfective, to read / be reading
• przeczytać = perfective, to read through / finish reading

Here the idea is not just the process of reading, but whether the person could make it out successfully. So przeczytać fits well:

• trudno było go przeczytać = it was difficult to read it / make it out

If you used czytać, it would sound less natural in this context.

Because sprawdziłam is the past tense, first person singular, feminine form of sprawdzić.

It means:

• I checked — said by a woman

Polish past tense agrees with the speaker’s gender:

• sprawdziłam = I checked (female speaker)
• sprawdziłem = I checked (male speaker)

So the sentence tells us that the speaker is female.

Because godzinę is the accusative singular form, used for the direct object.

The verb sprawdzić takes an object:

• sprawdzić co? = check what?
• godzinę = the time / hour

So:

• sprawdziłam godzinę = I checked the time

This is a very common pattern:

• mam książkę = I have a book
• czytam gazetę = I’m reading a newspaper
• sprawdziłam godzinę = I checked the time

In everyday Polish, sprawdzić godzinę often means to check what time it is.

Yes, literally it means in the phone, but in Polish that is a very normal way to say on the phone when you mean looking at information on the screen or inside the device.

So:

• w telefonie = in/on the phone

In context:

• sprawdziłam godzinę w telefonie = I checked the time on my phone

Polish often uses w where English prefers on for digital devices or contained information:

• mam to w telefonie = I have it on my phone
• czytałem to w internecie = I read it on the internet
• mam zdjęcia w komputerze = I have photos on the computer

Więc means so, therefore, or thus.

It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• the timetable was small and hard to read
• so I checked the time on my phone

It is a very common linking word in Polish.

Examples:

• Było późno, więc poszliśmy do domu. = It was late, so we went home.
• Nie miałem pieniędzy, więc nic nie kupiłem. = I had no money, so I didn’t buy anything.

It is understandable, but it may sound a little unusual depending on the exact context.

Polish speakers might also say things like:

• rozkład jazdy był napisany małą czcionką = the timetable was written in small print
• napis na rozkładzie był mały = the writing on the timetable was small
• rozkład był mało czytelny = the timetable was hard to read / not very legible

So był mały is grammatically fine, but it can sound a bit like the physical timetable itself was small, rather than specifically the text on it.

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

The original sentence is natural:

• Rozkład jazdy na peronie był mały i trudno było go przeczytać, więc sprawdziłam godzinę w telefonie.

You could also move parts around for emphasis, for example:

• Na peronie rozkład jazdy był mały i trudno było go przeczytać, więc sprawdziłam godzinę w telefonie.
• Sprawdziłam więc godzinę w telefonie.

But the original version is clear and normal.

Because in trudno było go przeczytać, the phrase is impersonal. It does not grammatically work like the timetable was difficult. Instead, it works like:

• it was difficult to read it

The było here does not agree with rozkład. It belongs to the impersonal expression trudno było + infinitive.

So the sentence has two different structures:

1. Rozkład jazdy ... był mały
   Here był agrees with rozkład.

2. trudno było go przeczytać
   Here było is part of an impersonal pattern meaning it was difficult to...

That is why both był and było appear in the same sentence.