Po przeczytaniu pierwszego wiersza moja siostra powiedziała, że drugi jest lepszy, chociaż ma smutniejszy tytuł.

Po przeczytaniu means after reading.

This is a very common Polish structure:

• po = after
• przeczytaniu = a verbal noun meaning reading / having read

So literally, po przeczytaniu pierwszego wiersza is something like:

• after the reading of the first poem

In natural English, we just say after reading the first poem.

A few useful points:

• The base verb is przeczytać = to read through / to finish reading
• The noun formed from it is przeczytanie = reading, the act of reading
• After po, this noun goes into the locative case, so:
  • przeczytanie → przeczytaniu

This structure is extremely common in Polish:

• po przyjeździe = after arriving
• po obiedzie = after lunch
• po przeczytaniu książki = after reading the book

So this is a normal, idiomatic way to say after reading.

Because przeczytaniu requires a complement in the genitive case here.

The phrase is built like this:

• po przeczytaniu kogo? czego?
• after reading what?

So pierwszy wiersz changes into the genitive:

• pierwszy wiersz → pierwszego wiersza

That is why both words change:

• pierwszy → pierwszego
• wiersz → wiersza

This is very typical after verbal nouns like czytanie / przeczytanie:

• czytanie książki = reading a book
• przeczytanie listu = reading a letter
• przeczytanie pierwszego wiersza = reading the first poem

Powiedziała is the past tense form of powiedzieć = to say.

It ends in -a because the subject is feminine:

• moja siostra = my sister

So:

• powiedział = he said
• powiedziała = she said

Polish past tense agrees with the gender of the subject, which is very different from English.

Examples:

• Mój brat powiedział... = My brother said...
• Moja siostra powiedziała... = My sister said...

So the form powiedziała tells you immediately that the speaker is talking about a female subject.

Że means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• moja siostra powiedziała, że...
• my sister said that...

In English, that is often optional:

• My sister said the second is better
• My sister said that the second is better

In Polish, że is very commonly used and sounds natural here.

Other examples:

• Myślę, że to dobre. = I think that it’s good.
• Wiem, że masz rację. = I know that you’re right.

Because Polish often leaves out a noun when it is already obvious from context.

Here, drugi means:

• the second one
• more specifically: the second poem

Since wiersz was already mentioned earlier, Polish does not need to repeat it.

So:

• pierwszego wiersza = the first poem
• drugi = the second one / the second poem

This is very natural in Polish, just as in English we can say:

• The first one was short, but the second was better.

In Polish, adjectives often work like nouns when the noun is understood:

• pierwszy = the first one
• drugi = the second one
• najlepszy = the best one

Because lepszy is an adjective, while lepiej is an adverb.

Here we are describing the second poem, so we need an adjective:

• lepszy = better
• drugi jest lepszy = the second one is better

By contrast, lepiej means better in the sense of more well:

• Śpiewa lepiej. = He/she sings better.
• Czuję się lepiej. = I feel better.

So:

• describing a thing/person → adjective: lepszy
• describing an action/state → adverb: lepiej

These are comparative adjectives.

• dobry = good → lepszy = better
• smutny = sad → smutniejszy = sadder

So:

• drugi jest lepszy = the second one is better
• ma smutniejszy tytuł = it has a sadder title

A key point: lepszy is irregular, like English good → better.

But smutniejszy is more regular:

• smutny → smutniejszy

These adjectives also agree with the noun they describe. Since the implied noun wiersz is masculine, you get masculine forms:

• drugi
• lepszy
• smutniejszy tytuł

Chociaż means although / even though.

It introduces a contrast:

• the second one is better
• although it has a sadder title

So the idea is: the title sounds sadder, but despite that, the second poem is still better.

Other examples:

• Chociaż pada, idę na spacer. = Although it’s raining, I’m going for a walk.
• Lubię go, chociaż jest dziwny. = I like him, although he’s strange.

It refers to drugi, meaning the second poem.

So the clause means:

• although the second poem has a sadder title

Polish often leaves out subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context. English might say:

• although it has a sadder title

Polish simply says:

• chociaż ma smutniejszy tytuł

The subject is understood from the previous clause:

• drugi jest lepszy
• chociaż ma smutniejszy tytuł

So ma = it has, where it is the second poem.

Because Polish is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when they are obvious.

In English, you usually need:

• it has a sadder title

In Polish, the verb form plus the context are enough:

• ma smutniejszy tytuł

The listener already knows that we are talking about drugi = the second one.

This happens all the time in Polish:

• Jest zmęczony. = He is tired.
• Idę do domu. = I am going home.
• Ma rację. = He/she is right, literally has right

Pronouns like on, ona, ono are usually used only when needed for emphasis or clarity.

Yes, Polish word order is more flexible than English word order, because case endings show grammatical relationships.

The given sentence is very natural:

• Po przeczytaniu pierwszego wiersza moja siostra powiedziała, że drugi jest lepszy, chociaż ma smutniejszy tytuł.

This order feels neutral and clear:

1. time/background: Po przeczytaniu pierwszego wiersza
2. subject + verb: moja siostra powiedziała
3. reported statement: że drugi jest lepszy
4. contrast: chociaż ma smutniejszy tytuł

Some parts could be moved for emphasis, but not every version sounds equally natural. For example:

• Moja siostra powiedziała po przeczytaniu pierwszego wiersza, że... This is possible, but it shifts the rhythm and emphasis slightly.

So yes, Polish allows more flexibility, but the original version is a normal, natural way to say it.

Because przeczytać is a perfective verb and suggests finishing the reading.

Compare:

• czytać = to read, to be reading, to read in general
• przeczytać = to read through, to finish reading

So:

• po czytaniu would sound odd in this context
• po przeczytaniu clearly means after finishing reading

Since the sentence refers to something that happened after the first poem had been read, the perfective idea fits very well.

This is a common Polish pattern:

• po zjedzeniu obiadu = after eating the lunch / after finishing lunch
• po obejrzeniu filmu = after watching the film
• po napisaniu listu = after writing the letter

Yes, drugi refers back to wiersz, which is a masculine noun.

That is why the adjective appears in masculine singular form:

• wiersz = masculine
• drugi = masculine
• lepszy = masculine

If the noun were feminine, the forms would change:

• książka → druga jest lepsza If it were neuter:
• opowiadanie → drugie jest lepsze

So the masculine endings here help confirm that drugi means drugi wiersz.

Yes. Depending on context, wiersz can mean:

• poem
• verse
• sometimes line in certain contexts

But if the meaning has already been given to the learner, then the important grammar point is that the same noun is being referred to throughout the sentence.

So whether the intended translation is poem, verse, or another context-specific meaning, the grammar works the same way:

• pierwszego wiersza = of the first ...
• drugi = the second one
• ma smutniejszy tytuł = has a sadder title

If there is a title, then poem is often the most natural interpretation.

Because in Polish, subordinate clauses are normally separated by commas.

Here you have:

• powiedziała, że... = said that...
• lepszy, chociaż... = better, although...

So the commas mark the start of embedded clauses.

This is more regular in Polish than in English. English sometimes omits commas in similar sentences, but Polish punctuation is stricter here.

So:

• comma before że = introduces the clause that...
• comma before chociaż = introduces the clause although...

Yes, in English that may sound more natural in some contexts, but Polish jest lepszy is present tense: is better.

Polish often keeps the present tense inside reported speech if the statement is still presented as valid:

• powiedziała, że drugi jest lepszy = she said that the second is better

In English, both may be possible depending on style and context:

• she said that the second is better
• she said that the second was better

So the Polish sentence itself uses present tense in the reported clause. That is normal and does not need to shift backward the way English sometimes does.

Here are the main ones:

• po = after
• przeczytać = to read through, to finish reading
• przeczytanie = reading
• pierwszy = first
• wiersz = poem / verse
• mój = my
• siostra = sister
• powiedzieć = to say
• że = that
• drugi = second
• być = to be
• dobry = good
• lepszy = better
• chociaż = although
• mieć = to have
• smutny = sad
• smutniejszy = sadder
• tytuł = title

This can help you see which forms are dictionary forms and which are changed by grammar in the sentence.