Po południu mężczyzna z kolejki powiedział, że w innym oddziale terminal działa szybciej.

Yes, literally po południu comes from po + południe (after noon), but as a fixed expression it usually means in the afternoon.

So in this sentence:

Po południu mężczyzna... = In the afternoon, the man...

A few related time expressions:

• rano = in the morning
• po południu = in the afternoon
• wieczorem = in the evening
• w nocy = at night

Even though po often means after, here you should mostly learn po południu as a whole expression.

Mężczyzna is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

The basic dictionary form is:

• mężczyzna = man

In this sentence:

• mężczyzna ... powiedział = the man said

One thing that often surprises learners is that mężczyzna refers to a male person, but the noun ends in -a, which looks like many feminine nouns. Despite that ending, it is grammatically treated as a masculine personal noun.

So:

• ten mężczyzna = this man
• past tense verb agrees as masculine: powiedział

Literally, z kolejki means from the queue / out of the queue, because z often means from and requires the genitive case.

• kolejka = queue, line
• z kolejki = from the queue

In context, though, English would often say:

• the man from the queue
• the man in the queue
• the man who was standing in line

So the Polish phrase identifies which man we mean: the one associated with the queue.

Case change:

• kolejka → nominative
• kolejki → genitive after z

Powiedział is the past tense of powiedzieć, which is a perfective verb meaning to say / to tell in the sense of a completed act.

So:

• powiedzieć = to say, to state once, as a complete event
• powiedział = he said

This fits well because the sentence refers to one completed speech event:

• the man said something

A useful comparison:

• mówił = he was speaking / he used to say / he said repeatedly or without emphasis on completion
• powiedział = he said, once, as a finished statement

So powiedział is the natural choice here.

In Polish past tense, the verb agrees with the subject’s gender and number.

Here the subject is a singular male person:

• mężczyzna = man

So the verb takes the masculine singular past form:

• powiedział = he said

Compare:

• powiedziała = she said
• powiedziało = it said
• powiedzieli = they said (masculine personal)
• powiedziały = they said (non-masculine-personal)

So -ł here is part of the masculine singular past ending.

Because że introduces a subordinate clause, and in Polish such clauses are normally separated by a comma.

Here:

• mężczyzna z kolejki powiedział, że...
• the man from the queue said that...

So the comma is required before że.

This is very standard in Polish:

• Wiem, że masz rację. = I know that you are right.
• Myślę, że przyjdzie. = I think that he will come.

Że usually means that when introducing a clause.

In this sentence:

• powiedział, że... = said that...

So the second part of the sentence gives the content of what he said:

• ...że w innym oddziale terminal działa szybciej
• ...that in another branch the terminal works faster

It is one of the most common conjunctions in Polish.

It is locative, because the preposition w often means in and requires the locative case when talking about location.

Base form:

• inny oddział = another branch / another department

After w:

• w innym oddziale = in another branch

Form breakdown:

• inny → innym
• oddział → oddziale

So the phrase means:

• w innym oddziale = in another branch

Oddział can mean several things depending on context, including:

• branch
• department
• division
• ward

In this sentence, because we are talking about a terminal, oddział most likely means branch, probably of a bank, office, or institution.

So:

• w innym oddziale = in another branch

Context is very important with this word.

Because działać means to work / to function / to operate, and that is the natural verb for machines or devices.

• terminal działa = the terminal works / functions
• terminal działa szybciej = the terminal works faster

If you said:

• terminal jest szybszy

that would mean the terminal is faster, which is possible in some contexts, but Polish often prefers działa szybciej when talking about how efficiently a machine or system operates.

So this sentence emphasizes performance in operation, not just an abstract quality.

Szybciej is the comparative adverb of szybko.

• szybko = quickly, fast
• szybciej = more quickly, faster

It is used here because it modifies the verb:

• działa szybciej = works faster

By contrast:

• szybszy is an adjective meaning faster
• it would describe a noun, not a verb

Compare:

• Terminal działa szybciej. = The terminal works faster.
• To jest szybszy terminal. = This is a faster terminal.

Yes, Polish word order is relatively flexible, and this sentence could be rearranged for emphasis.

Neutral version:

• Po południu mężczyzna z kolejki powiedział, że w innym oddziale terminal działa szybciej.

This is natural and clear:

1. time
2. subject
3. verb
4. subordinate clause

But other versions are possible, for example:

• Mężczyzna z kolejki powiedział po południu, że...
• W innym oddziale terminal działa szybciej, powiedział mężczyzna z kolejki.

The meaning stays similar, but the emphasis changes. Polish often uses word order to highlight what is new, important, or contrastive.

Polish has no articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• mężczyzna can mean a man or the man
• terminal can mean a terminal or the terminal
• oddział can mean a branch or the branch

You understand which one is meant from context.

In this sentence, English would probably use:

• the man from the queue
• another branch
• the terminal

But Polish does not need separate article words to express that.

It is a borrowed word, but it is fully normal in modern Polish.

Terminal can refer to:

• a payment terminal
• a computer terminal
• a transport terminal

In this sentence, it most likely means a payment/card terminal or some kind of service terminal.

Grammatically, it behaves like a masculine inanimate noun:

• terminal = nominative
• terminalu = genitive/locative, depending on use
• terminalem = instrumental

So although it may look international, it still follows Polish grammar.