Miałam wziąć portmonetkę, ale została w drugiej torbie w domu.

Miałam is the past-tense, feminine singular form of mieć (to have).

So this sentence is being said by a woman. A man would say miałem:

• Miałam wziąć... = said by a female speaker
• Miałem wziąć... = said by a male speaker

In this pattern, mieć + infinitive often means was supposed to, was meant to, or intended to.

Miałam wziąć does not literally mean just I had to take in a simple possession sense. In Polish, mieć + infinitive is a common structure meaning something like:

• I was supposed to take
• I was meant to take
• I intended to take

So Miałam wziąć portmonetkę suggests there was a plan, intention, or expectation that the speaker would take the purse/wallet.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Polish verbs.

• brać = imperfective, focusing on the process or repeated action
• wziąć = perfective, focusing on one complete action

Here the speaker means one specific action: taking the wallet. That is why wziąć is natural.

So:

• miałam wziąć = I was supposed to take it once, as a complete act
• miałam brać would usually not fit as well here unless the meaning were more ongoing or repeated

Because portmonetka is the direct object of wziąć, and direct objects usually go into the accusative case.

The forms are:

• portmonetka = nominative
• portmonetkę = accusative

Since the speaker was supposed to take the wallet/purse, Polish uses the accusative:

• wziąć portmonetkę

This is a very common pattern with transitive verbs.

Not exactly.

• portmonetka usually means a coin purse, small purse, or sometimes a small wallet
• portfel usually means a wallet or billfold

In real usage, the exact English translation can depend on context, because English and Polish do not divide these objects in exactly the same way. But portmonetka often sounds smaller and more specifically like something for coins or small valuables.

Here została comes from zostać, which often means:

• to remain
• to stay
• to be left
• to end up

In this sentence, it means something like:

• it was left
• it stayed behind
• it ended up in the other bag at home

So the sense is that the wallet was not taken because it remained in the other bag.

Because Polish often omits the subject when it is clear from context.

English needs it, but Polish does not have to say ona here. The listener already knows the sentence is still talking about portmonetka, and the verb form została is feminine singular, which matches portmonetka.

So Polish can simply say:

• ale została w drugiej torbie w domu

An explicit ona would usually sound more emphatic, not neutral.

Because została agrees with the understood subject, which is portmonetka.

Portmonetka is:

• singular
• feminine

So the past-tense form must also be singular feminine:

• został = masculine
• została = feminine
• zostało = neuter
• zostały = plural non-masculine-personal
• zostali = plural masculine-personal

Even though the speaker is female in miałam, the form została is not agreeing with the speaker. It is agreeing with portmonetka.

Because after w when it means in or inside, Polish uses the locative case.

So:

• druga torba = nominative
• w drugiej torbie = locative, after w

Also, drugiej can mean either:

• second
• the other

In this sentence, it will often be understood as in the other bag, though literally it is the same form as in the second bag.

Because this sentence describes location, not movement.

• w domu = at home / in the house
• do domu = to home / to the house, showing direction

Here the wallet is located somewhere, so w domu is correct:

• została w drugiej torbie w domu = it was left in the other bag at home

If the sentence were about going home, then do domu might be used.

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

The original sentence is neutral and natural:

• Miałam wziąć portmonetkę, ale została w drugiej torbie w domu.

But you could change the order for emphasis, for example:

• Portmonetkę miałam wziąć, ale została w drugiej torbie w domu.

This puts more focus on portmonetkę.

Even though different word orders are possible, the original version sounds very natural and is probably the best one for a learner to remember first.

Yes. You could say:

• Miałam wziąć ze sobą portmonetkę...

That means I was supposed to take the wallet with me.

Without ze sobą, the sentence is still perfectly natural. Polish often leaves that idea unstated when it is obvious from context. Adding ze sobą just makes the meaning a little more explicit.