Po pracy chciałam wypłacić trochę pieniędzy, ale bank był już zamknięty, więc sprawdziłam tylko saldo.

Because po meaning after requires the locative case in this expression.

• praca = work
• po pracy = after work

So praca changes to pracy because it is in the locative singular.

This is a very common pattern:

• po szkole = after school
• po obiedzie = after lunch
• po pracy = after work

In this sentence, po pracy means after work / after finishing work.

These are past tense feminine forms.

Polish past tense agrees with the gender of the speaker:

• chciałam, sprawdziłam = said by a woman
• chciałem, sprawdziłem = said by a man

So the sentence tells us the speaker is female.

This is one of the big differences from English: in Polish, past tense verbs often show the speaker’s gender.

Chciałam wypłacić means I wanted to withdraw.

It shows intention, not completion. That matters here because the next part says the bank was already closed, so the withdrawal did not happen.

Compare:

• chciałam wypłacić pieniądze = I wanted to withdraw money
• wypłaciłam pieniądze = I withdrew the money

So chciałam wypłacić fits the situation perfectly: she planned to do it, but could not.

This is about aspect.

• wypłacić = perfective
• wypłacać = imperfective

After chcieć (to want), Polish often uses the infinitive that best matches the intended action. Here, wypłacić presents the withdrawal as a single completed action the speaker intended to do.

So:

• chciałam wypłacić trochę pieniędzy = I wanted to withdraw some money

If you used wypłacać, it would sound more like an ongoing/repeated activity, which does not fit as well here.

Because trochę requires the genitive case.

• pieniądze = money
• genitive form = pieniędzy

So:

• trochę pieniędzy = some money

This is very common in Polish. Words like dużo, mało, trochę, ile often take the genitive:

• dużo czasu = a lot of time
• mało wody = little water
• trochę chleba = some bread
• trochę pieniędzy = some money

Also, pieniądze is a plural-only noun in Polish, which is another reason it behaves a bit differently from English money.

Grammatically, pieniądze is plural in Polish, even though English money is usually treated as singular/uncountable.

That is why you get forms like:

• te pieniądze = this money / these money amounts
• nie mam pieniędzy = I don’t have money
• trochę pieniędzy = some money

So when learning Polish, it helps to remember that pieniądze behaves more like a plural noun.

This means the bank was already closed.

Breakdown:

• bank = bank
• był = was
• już = already
• zamknięty = closed

zamknięty agrees with bank, which is a masculine singular noun. That is why the form is zamknięty.

Compare with other nouns:

• sklep był zamknięty = the shop was closed
• restauracja była zamknięta = the restaurant was closed
• drzwi były zamknięte = the door(s) were closed

So the adjective/participle changes to match the noun.

Yes, but it means something a bit different.

• bank był zamknięty = the bank was closed / was in a closed state
• bank został zamknięty = the bank got closed / was closed (event of being closed)

In this sentence, the important thing is the state the speaker encountered, not the event of closing. So był już zamknięty is the more natural choice.

Już means already.

So:

• bank był zamknięty = the bank was closed
• bank był już zamknięty = the bank was already closed

It adds the idea that by the time the speaker got there, it was too late.

In Polish, już is extremely common and often appears where English uses already, by then, or sometimes just uses context.

Because Polish punctuation normally separates clauses joined by conjunctions like ale (but) and więc (so).

Here the sentence has three parts:

• Po pracy chciałam wypłacić trochę pieniędzy
• ale bank był już zamknięty
• więc sprawdziłam tylko saldo

So the commas help show the structure clearly.

This is more consistently required in Polish than in English.

Here saldo means balance, especially an account balance.

So:

• sprawdziłam tylko saldo = I only checked the balance

It is understandable and correct. In everyday speech, many people also say:

• sprawdzić stan konta = to check the account balance / check your account

That may sound a bit more natural in some contexts, but saldo is perfectly fine, especially in banking language.

Because tylko means only, and its position helps show what is being limited.

• sprawdziłam tylko saldo = I only checked the balance

The idea is: because the bank was closed, the speaker did not withdraw money; she only checked the balance.

In Polish, word order is flexible, but placement affects emphasis. This version most naturally emphasizes that checking the balance was the only thing she did.

Not completely. Polish word order is fairly flexible, but the original order sounds natural and neutral.

Original:

• Po pracy chciałam wypłacić trochę pieniędzy, ale bank był już zamknięty, więc sprawdziłam tylko saldo.

You could rearrange parts for emphasis, for example:

• Po pracy chciałam trochę pieniędzy wypłacić...
• Więc tylko sprawdziłam saldo.

These are possible, but they may sound more marked or less neutral.

For learners, the original sentence is a very good model of standard, natural Polish word order.

Again, this is aspect.

• sprawdziłam = perfective, a completed one-time action
• sprawdzałam = imperfective, ongoing or repeated checking

Here the speaker did one complete action: she checked the balance. So sprawdziłam is the right choice.

Compare:

• sprawdziłam saldo = I checked the balance
• sprawdzałam saldo = I was checking / I used to check the balance

The perfective form fits this single finished action.