Dokąd idziesz po pracy — do domu czy na dworzec?

Dokąd means to where? / where to? and it is used when there is movement toward a destination.

• Dokąd idziesz? = Where are you going?
• Gdzie jesteś? = Where are you?

So in this sentence, dokąd is used because the person is going somewhere, not just being somewhere.

Both verbs relate to going on foot, but they are used differently.

• iść / idziesz = going right now, in one direction
• chodzić / chodzisz = going habitually, repeatedly, or in no specific single direction

So:

• Dokąd idziesz po pracy? = Where are you going after work?
  → right now / on this occasion

Compare:

• Dokąd chodzisz po pracy? would sound more like
  Where do you usually go after work?

Dokąd itself does not force a case directly, but it introduces a question about destination, so the rest of the sentence uses the case required by the preposition:

• do domu → do
  • genitive
• na dworzec → na
  • accusative (when expressing motion toward a place)

So the case depends on the preposition used in the answer or in the sentence.

Here po means after.

• po pracy = after work

In this meaning, po is followed by the locative case:

• praca → pracy

Other examples:

• po obiedzie = after lunch
• po lekcji = after the lesson
• po szkole = after school

So po pracy is a very common and natural phrase.

Because the preposition po in the sense of after requires the locative case.

The noun praca changes like this:

• nominative: praca
• locative: pracy

So:

• po pracy = after work

This is just a normal case change caused by the preposition.

This is a very common thing learners ask, because English often just uses to for both.

In Polish, different destinations take different prepositions:

• do domu = to home / home
• na dworzec = to the station

Very roughly:

• do often suggests going to/into a place
• na is often used with certain public places, events, surfaces, and destinations like:
  • na dworzec = to the station
  • na lotnisko = to the airport
  • na pocztę = to the post office
  • na uniwersytet = to the university

Unfortunately, this is not always fully predictable, so it is best to learn the preposition together with the noun.

Because the preposition do requires the genitive case.

• dom = nominative
• domu = genitive

So:

• do domu = to home / to the house

This is a very common phrase, and Polish normally says iść do domu for go home.

Because na with motion usually takes the accusative case, and dworzec is a masculine inanimate noun. For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: dworzec
• accusative: dworzec

That is why we say:

• na dworzec = to the station

Compare with a masculine animate noun, where accusative would change:

• student → widzę studenta

But dworzec is inanimate, so it stays dworzec.

By itself, dworzec usually means a station/terminal, and the exact type may depend on context.

More specific forms are:

• dworzec kolejowy = railway station
• dworzec autobusowy = bus station

If the sentence just says na dworzec, many people will understand it from context.

It is informal singular, because idziesz is used when speaking to one person in a normal, non-formal way.

If you wanted to say it formally, you would say:

• Dokąd pan idzie po pracy — do domu czy na dworzec?
• Dokąd pani idzie po pracy — do domu czy na dworzec?

If speaking to more than one person:

• Dokąd idziecie po pracy — do domu czy na dworzec?

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

The original sentence:

• Dokąd idziesz po pracy — do domu czy na dworzec?

is very natural.

You could also hear:

• Po pracy dokąd idziesz — do domu czy na dworzec?
• Dokąd po pracy idziesz — do domu czy na dworzec?

These alternatives shift the emphasis a little, but the original version is probably the most neutral and natural for a learner to use.

Here czy means or in the sense of offering a choice between two options.

• do domu czy na dworzec? = home or to the station?

Important: this is not the same as czy used to introduce a yes/no question.

For example:

• Czy idziesz do domu? = Are you going home?

So czy can have different roles depending on the sentence.

The dash marks a pause and introduces the two alternatives:

• do domu czy na dworzec?

It works a bit like spoken English intonation:
Where are you going after work — home or to the station?

A comma is also sometimes possible in less stylized writing, but the dash makes the structure very clear and sounds natural in written Polish.

Yes. Polish usually uses do domu where English often simply says home.

So:

• Idę do domu. = I’m going home.
• Wracam do domu. = I’m returning home.

This is one of those places where Polish uses a full prepositional phrase, while English often uses a bare adverb-like word.

Yes, that helps explain the grammar.

A more literal breakdown would be:

• Dokąd = where to
• idziesz = are you going
• po pracy = after work
• do domu = home / to the house
• czy = or
• na dworzec = to the station

So literally it is something like:

Where to are you going after work — home or to the station?

That is not natural English, but it shows how Polish is structured.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

• dokąd ≈ DO-kont

A few helpful notes:

• stress is usually on the next-to-last syllable: DO-kąd
• ą is a nasal vowel; before d it often sounds somewhat like on/om

Other words in the sentence:

• idziesz ≈ EE-dzhesh
• pracy ≈ PRA-tsih
• dworzec ≈ DVÓ-zhets (roughly)

These are only approximations, but they can help at first.