Taca leży na stole obok talerzy.

Because taca is the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the nominative case.

• taca = nominative singular, tray
• tacę = accusative singular, used when the tray is a direct object

Here, the tray is not being acted on; it is the thing that lies somewhere:

• Taca leży... = The tray is lying...

Compare:

• Widzę tacę. = I see the tray.
• Taca leży na stole. = The tray is lying on the table.

Leży is from leżeć, which means to lie or to be lying.

Polish often uses different verbs depending on the physical position of something:

• leżeć = to lie
• stać = to stand
• wisieć = to hang

So Taca leży na stole sounds natural because a tray is thought of as lying/resting flat on the table.

You could also say:

• Taca jest na stole.

That means The tray is on the table, and it is also correct, but it is less specific. Leży gives a clearer picture of the tray’s position.

Leży is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• from the verb leżeć

So it matches taca, which is singular:

• ja leżę = I am lying
• ty leżysz = you are lying
• on/ona/ono leży = he/she/it is lying

Since taca is feminine singular, Polish still uses the same 3rd person singular present form:

• Taca leży.

Because this sentence describes location, not movement.

With na, Polish uses different cases depending on meaning:

• na + locative = on something, when something is already there
• na + accusative = onto something, when something moves there

So:

• na stole = on the table (location)
• na stół = onto the table (direction/movement)

Compare:

• Taca leży na stole. = The tray is on the table.
• Kładę tacę na stół. = I am putting the tray onto the table.

This is a very important Polish pattern.

Because after na in a location phrase, stół has to be in the locative case.

The noun stół changes like this:

• nominative: stół
• genitive: stołu
• locative: stole

Two things are happening:

1. The case ending changes.
2. The vowel ó often changes to o in other forms.

So:

• stół → stole

This kind of stem change is common in Polish and usually just has to be learned with the noun.

Because obok requires the genitive case.

So after obok (next to / beside), the noun must change:

• singular: obok talerza = next to the plate
• plural: obok talerzy = next to the plates

Here:

• talerze = nominative/accusative plural
• talerzy = genitive plural

Since obok governs the genitive, talerzy is the correct form.

From the combination of:

1. the preposition obok
2. the noun form talerzy

The base noun is talerz = plate.

Its plural nominative is:

• talerze = plates

But after obok, Polish needs the genitive plural:

• talerzy

So obok talerzy means next to the plates.

This is one reason Polish learners have to pay attention not only to the dictionary form of a noun, but also to its case forms.

In normal reading, it describes the location of the tray.

So the whole phrase:

• na stole obok talerzy

means something like:

• on the table, next to the plates

In other words, the tray is on the table, and its position on the table is next to the plates.

English can have the same kind of structure:

• The tray is on the table next to the plates.

Usually context makes this clear, and Polish speakers understand it naturally as describing where the tray is.

Yes. Polish word order is much more flexible than English word order.

The sentence:

• Taca leży na stole obok talerzy.

is a neutral, natural order.

But you could also say:

• Na stole obok talerzy leży taca.
• Obok talerzy na stole leży taca.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis changes a little.

Very roughly:

• Taca leży... focuses first on the tray
• Na stole... focuses first on where it is

English usually has much less freedom here.

Because Polish has no articles.

So taca can mean:

• a tray
• the tray

and stole can mean:

• on a table
• on the table

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

That is very normal in Polish. If a speaker wants to make something more specific, they usually do it through context, word order, or extra words, not articles.

Both can refer to closeness, but they are not the same.

• obok = next to / beside
• przy = by / near / at

Obok is usually more exact: something is right beside something else.

So:

• obok talerzy = next to the plates

If you used przy, it would sound more like near the plates rather than directly beside them.

Also, przy often has some other common uses, for example:

• siedzieć przy stole = to sit at the table

So in this sentence, obok is a very natural choice if the idea is specifically next to.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

• TA-tsa LE-zhih na STO-le O-bok ta-LE-zhih

A few useful sound notes:

• c in taca sounds like ts
• ż in leży sounds like the s in measure or vision
• rz in talerzy sounds the same as ż in modern Polish
• y in leży and talerzy is not exactly like English ee; it is a separate Polish vowel

Stress in Polish usually falls on the second-to-last syllable:

• TAca
• LEży
• STOle
• taLErzy