Tamta kobieta czeka przy okienku.

Tamta means that (one) over there or that woman with a stronger sense of distance.

• kobieta = woman
• ta kobieta = this/that woman depending on context
• tamta kobieta = that woman over there / that other woman

Polish makes a clearer distinction than English sometimes does:

• ta = this / that
• tamta = that one over there, more distant, or contrasted with another one

So tamta kobieta points to a specific woman who is not close, physically or in the conversation.

Because kobieta is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

In Tamta kobieta czeka przy okienku:

• tamta kobieta = the subject
• czeka = the verb
• przy okienku = a prepositional phrase telling you where she is waiting

Since she is the person doing the waiting, kobieta remains in its basic dictionary form: kobieta.

Czeka is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb czekać.

That means:

• czekam = I wait / I am waiting
• czekasz = you wait / you are waiting
• czeka = he/she/it waits / is waiting

So Tamta kobieta czeka means That woman is waiting.

In Polish, the present tense often covers both English meanings:

• waits
• is waiting

Polish has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of the or a/an.

English says:

• The woman is waiting
• A woman is waiting

Polish often just says:

• Kobieta czeka

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, tamta kobieta already makes the noun specific, so no article is needed.

Because the preposition przy requires the locative case.

The noun is:

• okienko = nominative singular

After przy, it changes to the locative:

• przy okienku

So:

• przy
  • locative
• okienko → okienku

This is a very common thing in Polish: prepositions often force a particular case.

Literally, okienko is a diminutive of okno (window), so it originally means little window.

But in everyday Polish, okienko very often means a service window, ticket window, counter window, or window in an office/station/clinic, where you speak to someone through a small opening.

So in this sentence, przy okienku most likely means something like:

• at the counter
• at the service window
• by the ticket window

not necessarily just standing next to an ordinary household window.

Not always. Grammatically, okienko is a diminutive, but in real usage diminutives in Polish do not always mean physical smallness.

They can suggest:

• small size
• a familiar or natural term
• a specialized everyday meaning

Here, okienko is the normal word for many kinds of service windows, even if they are not especially tiny.

So you should not always translate diminutives too literally.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English because endings show the grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

• Tamta kobieta czeka przy okienku.

But you could also say:

• Przy okienku czeka tamta kobieta.
• Czeka tamta kobieta przy okienku.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis changes.

For example:

• Tamta kobieta czeka przy okienku = neutral statement
• Przy okienku czeka tamta kobieta = emphasis on where
• Tamta kobieta near the end can sound contrastive in some contexts

So the original sentence is the most straightforward version for a learner.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

TAHM-tah koh-BYE-tah CHEH-kah pshee oh-KYEN-koo

A few useful points:

• cz sounds like English ch in chess
• rz in przy is pronounced like the s in measure or zh
• y is not the same as English ee; it is a harder vowel
• ie in kobieta and okienku is pronounced as part of a softer sound before the consonant

More carefully, approximately:

• tamta → TAHM-ta
• kobieta → ko-BYE-ta
• czeka → CHE-ka
• przy → roughly pshih / pzhih
• okienku → o-KYEN-ku

Because przy means by, next to, at, or near, and it fits the idea of waiting at a service window very naturally.

Compare:

• przy okienku = at/by the window or counter
• obok okienka = beside the window, next to it
• na okienku = on the windowsill / on the little window, which usually does not fit this meaning

So przy okienku is the idiomatic choice when talking about standing or waiting at a counter or service window.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Polish present tense often covers both:

• she waits
• she is waiting

So Tamta kobieta czeka przy okienku could mean:

• she is waiting there now
• she waits there habitually, if the context suggests a routine

In most ordinary situations, a listener would understand it as something happening right now.