Strażak szybko gasi pożar.

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• strażak = firefighter
• szybko = quickly
• gasi = puts out / is extinguishing
• pożar = fire, especially a blaze or serious fire

So the sentence is literally something like:

• Firefighter quickly extinguishes fire
• more natural English: The firefighter quickly puts out the fire or The firefighter is quickly extinguishing the fire

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

So strażak can mean:

• a firefighter
• the firefighter

And pożar can mean:

• a fire
• the fire

Which one is meant depends on the context.

There are two main clues:

• it is in the nominative case, which is the basic subject form
• it comes first in a very normal Polish word order: subject + adverb + verb + object

So in this sentence:

• strażak = the person doing the action
• pożar = the thing affected by the action

Good question. In Polish, direct objects are often in the accusative case. But for some nouns, the accusative looks exactly the same as the nominative.

That is what happens here:

• nominative: pożar
• accusative: pożar

This is normal for many masculine inanimate nouns in singular.

So even though pożar is the object, its form stays pożar.

Gasi is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• from the verb gasić = to extinguish / to put out

So gasi means:

• he/she/it extinguishes
• he/she/it is extinguishing

Because Polish present tense can often match both English simple present and present continuous, context decides the best translation.

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

• gasić = imperfective
  Focuses on the action as ongoing, repeated, or simply happening.
• ugasić = perfective
  Focuses on completing the action.

So:

• Strażak gasi pożar = The firefighter is putting out the fire / puts out the fire
• Strażak ugasi pożar = The firefighter will put out the fire

A perfective verb like ugasić does not normally have a true present meaning. Its present-looking forms usually refer to the future.

Szybko is an adverb, meaning quickly.

It describes how the firefighter is doing the action.

Related forms:

• szybki = fast, quick (adjective)
• szybko = quickly (adverb)

So:

• szybki strażak = a fast firefighter
• strażak szybko gasi pożar = the firefighter quickly puts out the fire

Not completely. Polish word order is more flexible than English because case endings help show who is doing what.

The neutral, most straightforward order here is:

• Strażak szybko gasi pożar.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Strażak gasi szybko pożar.
• Pożar strażak szybko gasi.
• Szybko strażak gasi pożar.

These alternatives change the focus or emphasis, not the core meaning.

For a learner, the original order is the safest and most natural one.

Yes.

Polish present tense often covers both:

• simple present: puts out
• present continuous: is putting out

So depending on context, Strażak szybko gasi pożar could mean:

• The firefighter quickly puts out the fire
• The firefighter is quickly extinguishing the fire

English forces you to choose more often than Polish does.

A rough guide:

• Strażak ≈ STRA-zhak
• szybko ≈ SHIB-ko
• gasi ≈ GA-shi, but with a softer sh
• pożar ≈ PO-zhar

A few useful sound notes:

• sz sounds like English sh
• ż sounds like the s in measure or vision
• si here sounds like a soft sh
  • i

So the whole sentence is roughly:

• STRA-zhak SHIB-ko GA-shi PO-zhar

Not exactly.

Pożar usually means a serious fire, blaze, or fire outbreak.

If you just mean fire in a general sense, Polish often uses ogień.

So:

• pożar = a fire as an incident, often dangerous or destructive
• ogień = fire in a broader sense, like flame or fire as a substance

That is why gasi pożar sounds very natural for a firefighter.

Yes, you could.

But the feeling is a bit different:

• Strażak szybko gasi pożar = neutral, natural
• Strażak gasi pożar szybko = puts more emphasis on quickly, often as the final piece of information

So both are grammatical, but the original sentence is usually the better default choice for learners.

Not necessarily.

The noun strażak is grammatically masculine, but in many contexts it can refer to a firefighter in general. However, in ordinary usage it often suggests a male firefighter.

If you want to refer specifically to a female firefighter, you may hear:

• strażaczka

But feminine job titles in Polish can vary in frequency and style depending on the word and the speaker.