Mama rozgrzewa piekarnik przed obiadem.

Polish does not have articles, so there is no separate word for the or a/an.

That means piekarnik can mean the oven or an oven, depending on context. In a normal household sentence like this, English will usually translate it as the oven.

Because piekarnik is the direct object of the verb rozgrzewa.

In Polish, masculine inanimate nouns often have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular.
So:

• nominative: piekarnik
• accusative: piekarnik

That is why the word looks unchanged, even though it is functioning as the object.

Because the preposition przed normally requires the instrumental case.

So:

• basic form: obiad
• after przed: przed obiadem

This is true whether the meaning is physical, like in front of, or temporal, like before.

Rozgrzewa is present tense, third person singular: he/she/it warms up / is warming up.

Here it agrees with Mama, so it means Mom warms up / is warming up.

Because Polish present tense can cover both a general action and an action happening now, this sentence could mean either:

• she is warming up the oven now
• she usually warms up the oven before dinner/lunch

The wider context tells you which one is meant.

The infinitive is rozgrzewać.

This is the imperfective verb, which is used for ongoing, repeated, or general actions. Its perfective partner is rozgrzać.

A useful contrast is:

• Mama rozgrzewa piekarnik = Mom is warming up / warms up the oven
• Mama rozgrzeje piekarnik = Mom will warm up the oven

It can be tricky, because obiad does not match English meal words perfectly.

Usually obiad means the main cooked meal of the day, often eaten in the afternoon. Depending on the household and the translator’s choice, it may be rendered as lunch or dinner.

So learners should think of obiad as a Polish meal category, not as a perfect one-word match to English.

Yes, very often.

Polish verbs show person and number, so the subject is often omitted when it is already clear. You could say simply:

Rozgrzewa piekarnik przed obiadem.

That still means She is warming up the oven before lunch/dinner, if the context makes it clear who she is.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

Mama rozgrzewa piekarnik przed obiadem.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Przed obiadem mama rozgrzewa piekarnik.
• Piekarnik mama rozgrzewa przed obiadem.

These do not radically change the basic meaning, but they change what is being emphasized or highlighted.

A rough guide:

• Mama → MA-ma
• rozgrzewa → roughly roz-GZHE-va
• piekarnik → roughly pye-KAR-neek
• przed obiadem → roughly pshet o-BYA-dem

A few important points:

• rz is usually pronounced like the zh sound in measure
• cz, sz, rz, ż are common Polish consonant sounds learners need practice with
• stress in Polish usually falls on the second-to-last syllable, so:
  • rozgrzewa → rozgrzeWA
  • piekarnik → pieKARnik
  • obiadem → oBIAdem

Yes. Mama is the normal everyday word for mom/mum, while matka is more formal and can sound more official, serious, or biological.

So in an ordinary family sentence, Mama sounds natural.
Matka rozgrzewa piekarnik przed obiadem would sound much less conversational.