Mama tuli małe dziecko.

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Dziecko is:

• neuter
• singular
• here it is in the accusative case

The adjective mały changes to match that, so:

• masculine: mały
• feminine: mała
• neuter: małe

So we get małe dziecko = small child.

Because some nouns have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular.

Here, dziecko is the direct object of tuli, so it is in the accusative case. But the accusative singular of dziecko happens to look exactly the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: dziecko
• accusative: dziecko

So the case is different in function, even though the form does not change.

For neuter singular adjectives, the nominative and accusative forms are usually the same.

So:

• nominative: małe dziecko
• accusative: małe dziecko

That is why both words look unchanged, even though the phrase is functioning as the object.

Tuli is the 3rd person singular present-tense form of the verb tulić.

The subject is Mama, which is she, so Polish uses the he/she/it form of the verb:

• ja tulę = I cuddle / hug
• ty tulisz = you cuddle / hug
• on/ona/ono tuli = he/she/it cuddles / hugs
• my tulimy = we cuddle / hug
• wy tulicie = you (plural) cuddle / hug
• oni/one tulą = they cuddle / hug

So Mama tuli means Mom is cuddling / hugs.

In this sentence, Mama is most naturally understood as the ordinary noun mom / mother, used as the subject.

Polish often capitalizes Mama in family-style or child-centered contexts, especially when referring to one’s own mother in a warm or personal way. In many contexts, you may also see mama with a lowercase m.

So both can occur, depending on style:

• Mama tuli małe dziecko.
• mama tuli małe dziecko.

Polish does not have articles like English a/an and the.

So Mama tuli małe dziecko could mean:

• Mom is cuddling a small child
• Mom is cuddling the small child

Which one is meant depends on context.

This is very normal in Polish. Learners often need to get used to the fact that definiteness is usually understood from the situation rather than from a separate word.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order because case endings help show who is doing what.

The neutral order here is:

• Mama tuli małe dziecko.

But other orders are also possible, for example:

• Małe dziecko tuli mama.
• Dziecko małe tuli mama.
• Tuli mama małe dziecko.

These versions can sound more marked, poetic, or focused differently. The basic meaning stays similar because mama is still the subject and małe dziecko is still the object.

For a beginner, it is best to learn Mama tuli małe dziecko as the most straightforward order.

You know this from a combination of verb agreement, case, and normal sentence structure.

• Mama is in the nominative form, which is the usual case for the subject.
• małe dziecko is the direct object and is in the accusative, although here its form looks the same as the nominative.
• The normal Polish order subject + verb + object also supports this reading.

So the sentence is understood as:

• Mama = the one doing the action
• małe dziecko = the one receiving the action

It can overlap with all of those, but tulić often has a warm, affectionate sense like:

• to cuddle
• to hug closely
• to hold tenderly

It is softer and more affectionate than some other verbs of holding or embracing. With małe dziecko, cuddle is often a very natural translation.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Mama tuli małe dziecko
MA-ma TU-li MA-we DJECK-o

A few helpful notes:

• tuli sounds roughly like TOO-lee
• małe has ł, which sounds like English w, so it is roughly MA-we
• dziecko begins with dź/dzie-type sounds that can be tricky for English speakers; roughly DYECK-ko or JECK-ko depending on how detailed you want to be

A more careful approximation:

• Mama = MA-ma
• tuli = TOO-lee
• małe = MA-we
• dziecko = JECK-ko / DŹECK-o

Yes. Polish often omits subject pronouns, and sometimes even a noun subject can be left out if the context makes it clear.

So if everyone already knows we are talking about Mom, you could say simply:

• Tuli małe dziecko.

The verb form tuli tells you the subject is he/she/it, and the context would tell you which one.

However, when introducing the sentence clearly, Mama tuli małe dziecko is more complete and natural for learners.

Mama is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

Its nominative singular form is mama.

If it were used differently, it could change:

• nominative: mama = mom
• genitive: mamy
• dative: mamie
• accusative: mamę

But in this sentence, since Mama is the one doing the action, nominative is the correct case.

Polish present tense often covers both:

• simple present: Mom cuddles a small child
• present continuous: Mom is cuddling a small child

So tuli can mean either one, depending on context.

English usually forces you to choose between cuddles and is cuddling, but Polish often does not make that distinction in the same way in the present tense.