Strażak kazał nam zejść na dół i wyjść z budynku.

Kazał nam means told us to / ordered us to.

The important grammar point is that kazać takes the person receiving the order in the dative case, not the accusative. So:

• nam = to us (dative)
• nas = us (accusative/genitive)

Polish structure is:

ktoś kazał komuś coś zrobić
= someone told/ordered someone to do something

So:

• kazał nam zejść = he told us to go down
• not kazał nas zejść

After kazać, Polish normally uses an infinitive for the action that was ordered.

So the pattern is:

Strażak kazał nam + infinitive

Examples:

• kazał nam czekać = he told us to wait
• kazał nam biec = he told us to run
• kazał nam wyjść = he told us to leave

This is very similar to English told us to leave, where to leave is also an infinitive structure.

Kazał is the past tense, masculine singular form of kazać.

It matches the subject strażak (firefighter), which is a singular masculine noun.

Compare:

• strażak kazał = the firefighter told/ordered
• strażaczka kazała = the female firefighter told/ordered
• strażacy kazali = the firefighters told/ordered

In Polish past tense, the verb shows gender in the singular and number as well.

This is about aspect.

• zejść is perfective
• schodzić is imperfective

Here, the firefighter is telling people to perform a single completed action: go down, then get out. That is why perfective verbs are natural:

• zejść = go down successfully/as a complete action
• wyjść = go out/leave successfully/as a complete action

If you used imperfective forms, it would sound more like focusing on the process or repeated action, which does not fit as well in an emergency instruction.

Na dół means down or downstairs, depending on context.

Literally, it is something like to the bottom/downward, but in normal English translation you usually just say:

• zejść na dół = go downstairs / go down

It is a very common expression in Polish, similar to:

• iść na górę = go upstairs / go up
• zejść na dół = go downstairs / go down

Yes, a little—but it is still very natural Polish.

Zejść already contains the idea of downward movement, so na dół adds emphasis or makes the destination clearer. This kind of reinforcement is common in everyday Polish.

So although it may feel a bit like go down downstairs from an English learner's point of view, in Polish zejść na dół is normal and idiomatic.

Budynku is genitive singular.

That is because the preposition z in the sense from / out of requires the genitive.

So:

• budynek = building (dictionary form, nominative)
• z budynku = out of the building / from the building

Other examples:

• z domu = out of the house / from the house
• z pokoju = out of the room / from the room

Not quite. They describe two different movements:

• zejść na dół = go down / go downstairs
• wyjść z budynku = go out of the building

So the sentence suggests a sequence like:

1. go downstairs
2. leave the building

This makes sense in a multi-story building during an evacuation.

Usually, yes. The order often reflects the order of actions.

So:

kazał nam zejść na dół i wyjść z budynku
naturally suggests: first go down, then leave the building.

If you changed the order, the meaning could sound different or less logical depending on the situation.

That said, Polish word order is fairly flexible, so speakers can sometimes rearrange things for emphasis. But in this sentence, the given order is the most straightforward and natural.

Polish has no articles like a or the.

So:

• strażak can mean a firefighter or the firefighter
• budynek can mean a building or the building

You understand which one is meant from context.

In this sentence, English would most naturally say The firefighter told us... because the context probably refers to a specific firefighter.

Yes. Opuścić budynek also means leave the building.

But there is a nuance:

• wyjść z budynku strongly emphasizes physically going out
• opuścić budynek is a bit more formal or official-sounding

Also, the grammar changes:

• wyjść z budynku → uses z + genitive
• opuścić budynek → takes a direct object in the accusative

So both are correct, but wyjść z budynku sounds very natural in everyday speech, especially in an evacuation context.