Na podwórku nie ma nikogo.

There is no one in the yard.

Breakdown of Na podwórku nie ma nikogo.

• mieć: to have
• nie: not
• na: in
• podwórko: the yard

Questions & Answers about Na podwórku nie ma nikogo.

Why is it na podwórku, and what case is podwórku?

Na podwórku means in the yard / in the courtyard.

The noun’s base form is podwórko. After na when you are talking about location, Polish normally uses the locative case, so:

• podwórko → podwórku

So this is:

• na podwórku = in/on the yard/courtyard

Even though na often literally means on, with places it can simply mean in/at.

Why is na used instead of w?

This is mostly a matter of normal Polish usage.

With open areas or certain locations, Polish often prefers na rather than w. A yard/courtyard is typically said as:

• na podwórku

not usually:

• w podwórku

So even if English says in the yard, Polish idiomatically uses na here.

Why does Polish say nie ma here instead of something with jest or są?