W pudełku z plasteliną brakuje niebieskiego koloru, więc córka używa tylko czerwonego i żółtego.

Because w meaning in usually requires the locative case when it answers where?

• pudełko = box
• w pudełku = in the box

So the noun changes form:

• nominative: pudełko
• locative: pudełku

This is very common in Polish:

• w domu = in the house
• w sklepie = in the shop
• w pudełku = in the box

Here z means with, and when z means with, it takes the instrumental case.

So:

• plastelina = modeling clay / plasticine
• z plasteliną = with modeling clay

The form plasteliną is the instrumental singular.

Compare:

• z mamą = with mom
• z kolegą = with a friend
• z plasteliną = with modeling clay

Be careful: z can also mean from, and then it usually takes a different case, often the genitive:

• z domu = from the house

So in this sentence, z plasteliną means with plasticine, not from plasticine.

It most naturally means in the box with plasticine.

So the phrase describes a box that contains or comes with plasticine. In natural English, you might translate it as:

• In the box of modeling clay...
• or more idiomatically, In the plasticine box/set...

Polish often uses z + instrumental to mean with in this descriptive way.

If you wanted to say something more like a plasticine box or a box made for plasticine, Polish would usually use a different structure.

Brakuje is the 3rd person singular form of brakować, which means to be lacking, to be missing, or to be absent.

So:

• brakuje niebieskiego koloru = blue is missing / there is no blue color

This verb is often used impersonally in Polish. English often says:

• There is no blue
• The blue color is missing
• They are out of blue

But Polish commonly uses brakuje + genitive.

Examples:

• Brakuje cukru. = There is no sugar / We are out of sugar.
• Brakuje czasu. = There is not enough time / Time is lacking.
• Brakuje jednej strony. = One page is missing.

Because brakować requires the genitive case.

The basic form is:

• niebieski kolor = blue color

But after brakuje, it becomes:

• niebieskiego koloru

Both words change because the adjective must agree with the noun in case, number, and gender.

So:

• nominative: niebieski kolor
• genitive: niebieskiego koloru

This is one of the most important things to remember with Polish cases: the adjective changes together with the noun.

Yes, very often it could.

Polish frequently leaves out the noun when it is obvious from context. Since the sentence is already about colors of plasticine, niebieskiego by itself can mean the blue one or blue.

So these can both work:

• brakuje niebieskiego koloru
• brakuje niebieskiego

The longer version is a bit more explicit. The shorter version is very natural in everyday speech.

The same thing happens later in the sentence with:

• czerwonego i żółtego

Here koloru is also understood.

Because używać also takes the genitive case.

So:

• czerwony kolor = red color
• żółty kolor = yellow color

After używa, they become:

• czerwonego
• żółtego

The full idea is:

• używa tylko czerwonego i żółtego [koloru]

or more literally,

• she uses only the red and the yellow

Examples with używać:

• używać komputera = to use a computer
• używać noża = to use a knife
• używać czerwonego = to use the red one / red

This is a very common pattern in Polish.

Because the omitted noun is kolor, and kolor is a masculine noun.

The adjectives agree with the noun they describe, even if the noun is left out.

So:

• czerwony kolor → czerwonego [koloru]
• żółty kolor → żółtego [koloru]
• niebieski kolor → niebieskiego [koloru]

If the hidden noun were different, the adjective form could be different too.

For example:

• farba = paint, feminine
• używa czerwonej farby = she uses red paint

So the adjective ending depends on the noun behind it.

Więc means so, therefore, or thus.

It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• blue is missing
• therefore the daughter uses only red and yellow

So the structure is:

• ..., więc ... = ..., so ...

It is a very common connector in Polish.

Examples:

• Jest zimno, więc zostajemy w domu. = It’s cold, so we’re staying home.
• Nie mam czasu, więc idę już. = I don’t have time, so I’m leaving now.

Because Polish does not use articles like the or a, and it often leaves out possessive words when the meaning is clear from context.

So córka can mean:

• daughter
• the daughter
• his/her daughter

depending on context.

In this sentence, it is simply understood as the daughter or his/her daughter from the situation being described.

This is very normal in Polish. The language relies more on context than English does.

Yes, in many situations it can, though the nuance is slightly different.

Compare:

• Brakuje niebieskiego koloru.
• Nie ma niebieskiego koloru.

Both can mean that blue is not there. But:

• brakuje often emphasizes that something expected is missing
• nie ma simply states that it isn’t there

So in a box of colors, brakuje niebieskiego koloru sounds very natural because blue is one of the colors you would expect to have.

Polish word order is more flexible than English word order because cases show grammatical relationships.

The sentence as written is natural and clear:

• córka = subject
• używa = verb
• tylko czerwonego i żółtego = object phrase with only

But Polish could rearrange it for emphasis:

• Córka tylko używa czerwonego i żółtego.
• Tylko czerwonego i żółtego używa córka.

These alternatives sound more marked or emphatic. The original version is the most neutral.

Tylko itself does not control a case.

The case here comes from the verb używa. Since używać takes the genitive, the words after it are in the genitive:

• używa czerwonego i żółtego

So:

• tylko = only
• it modifies the phrase
• but it does not determine the case

This is important, because learners sometimes assume the nearby word causes the ending, when really it is the verb.

A rough breakdown is:

• W pudełku = in the box
• z plasteliną = with plasticine / modeling clay
• brakuje = there is lacking / is missing
• niebieskiego koloru = blue color
• więc = so
• córka = daughter
• używa = uses
• tylko = only
• czerwonego i żółtego = red and yellow

A very literal English version would be something like:

• In the box with plasticine, blue color is lacking, so the daughter uses only red and yellow.

That is not the most natural English, but it helps show how the Polish sentence is built.