Na ekranie pojawiło się nowe słowo.

Because after na Polish can use different cases depending on the meaning.

• na + accusative usually means motion onto something:
  Położyłem telefon na ekran would mean something like I placed the phone onto the screen.
• na + locative usually means location on / on the surface of / on something:
  na ekranie = on the screen

In this sentence, the word is already being described as appearing on the screen, so Polish uses the locative:

• ekran → ekranie

Because ekran is in the locative case, triggered here by na when it means location.

The base form is:

• ekran = screen

The locative singular is:

• na ekranie = on the screen

This kind of ending change is very common in Polish. You should learn nouns together with their case patterns, not only their dictionary form.

Pojawiło się means appeared, showed up, or came into view.

The verb is:

• pojawić się = to appear, to show up

In this sentence:

• pojawiło się nowe słowo = a new word appeared

This is a very natural Polish way to say that something became visible or came up on a screen.

Because the verb is commonly used as pojawić się, not just pojawić.

In many Polish verbs, się is part of the standard form and does not translate neatly as oneself. Here it helps create the meaning to appear / to show up.

Compare:

• pojawić się = to appear
• pokazać = to show
• ukazać się = to appear / be published / come out, depending on context

So in this sentence, się is not optional if you want this meaning.

Because the subject is nowe słowo, and słowo is neuter singular.

In the past tense, Polish verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

• masculine singular: pojawił się
• feminine singular: pojawiła się
• neuter singular: pojawiło się
• plural: pojawiły się / pojawili się depending on the group

Here:

• słowo = word
• słowo is neuter
• so the verb must be pojawiło się

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

Here:

• słowo is neuter singular
• it is in the nominative (the subject of the sentence)
• so nowy becomes nowe

Agreement:

• masculine: nowy wyraz
• feminine: nowa książka
• neuter: nowe słowo

So nowe słowo means a new word.

Yes. Nowe słowo is the grammatical subject.

Even though in English we often start with the location:

• On the screen, a new word appeared

the thing doing the grammatical appearing is the new word, so:

• nowe słowo = subject
• pojawiło się agrees with it

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

This order is natural because it presents:

1. the place first: Na ekranie = On the screen
2. then the event: pojawiło się = appeared
3. then the new information: nowe słowo = a new word

This makes the sentence sound smooth and informative.

Other orders are possible, but they may sound different in emphasis:

• Nowe słowo pojawiło się na ekranie.
  More focus on the new word
• Pojawiło się nowe słowo na ekranie.
  Possible, but less neutral in many contexts

It is perfective.

• pojawiać się = imperfective, to be appearing / to appear repeatedly
• pojawić się = perfective, to appear as a completed event

In this sentence, the appearance is treated as a single completed event:

• A new word appeared on the screen

That is why pojawiło się is the natural choice.

Yes, in many contexts that would be understandable and fairly natural.

• pojawiło się = appeared
• pokazało się = showed up / appeared

But pojawiło się is often the more neutral and standard choice for something appearing on a screen, in a text, or in view.

So:

• Na ekranie pojawiło się nowe słowo. = very natural
• Na ekranie pokazało się nowe słowo. = understandable, but a bit different in tone

Yes, słowo can mean both word and word/promise, depending on context.

For example:

• To trudne słowo. = That is a difficult word.
• Daję słowo. = I give my word.

In your sentence, because of nowe and na ekranie, it clearly means a written or displayed word.

A rough guide is:

Na ekranie pojawiło się nowe słowo
nah ek-RAH-nyeh poya-VYI-wo shyeh NO-veh SWO-voh

A few helpful points:

• rz / ż are not in this sentence, so that is one less thing to worry about.
• w in Polish sounds like English v.
• ł sounds like English w.
• się is pronounced roughly like shyeh.
• Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:
  • e-kra-nie
  • po-ja-wi-ło
  • no-we
  • sło-wo

Yes, that is a close literal translation, and it helps show the structure.

A more natural English translation would usually be:

• A new word appeared on the screen.
• A new word showed up on the screen.

But the literal version is useful for understanding Polish word order:

• Na ekranie = On the screen
• pojawiło się = appeared
• nowe słowo = a new word