Pokażę ci, którędy wrócić do domu, ale dziś nie idź tamtędy po zmroku.

Pokażę is the 1st person singular future form of the verb pokazać (to show).

Polish has two main verb aspects:

• imperfective: focuses on an ongoing, repeated, or unfinished action
• perfective: focuses on a completed whole action

Pokazać is perfective, so its present-looking forms actually refer to the future.
That is why pokażę means I will show, not I show.

Compare:

• pokazuję = I am showing / I show (imperfective, present)
• pokażę = I will show (perfective, future)

So Pokażę ci... means I’ll show you...

Ci here means to you. It is the dative form of ty (you, singular informal).

The verb pokazać often works like to show someone something:

• Pokażę ci drogę = I’ll show you the way
• literally: I will show to-you the way

Relevant forms:

• ty = you (subject form)
• ciebie / cię = you (object forms, accusative/genitive depending on context)
• ci = to you (dative)

So:

• Pokażę ty ❌
• Pokażę ciebie ❌ in this meaning
• Pokażę ci ✅

Also, ci is often an unstressed short form, very common in everyday Polish.

Którędy means something like:

• which way
• by which route
• through where

It is used when you are asking or telling the path/route taken, not just a location.

So:

• Gdzie jest dom? = Where is the house? (location)
• Którędy wrócić do domu? = Which way to get back home? (route)

In this sentence, którędy wrócić do domu means which way to return home.

A learner-friendly way to feel the difference:

• gdzie = where is it?
• którędy = which way do I go?

In Polish, after words like jak, gdzie, kiedy, którędy, you can often use an infinitive to express a general idea like:

• how to...
• where to...
• when to...
• which way to...

So:

• jak to zrobić = how to do it
• gdzie kupić bilet = where to buy a ticket
• którędy wrócić do domu = which way to return home

This structure is very common and natural in Polish.

Here, Pokażę ci, którędy wrócić do domu is basically: I’ll show you which way to get back home.

The verb wrócić (to return / come back) commonly takes do + genitive when you mean return to a place.

So:

• wrócić do domu = return home / return to the house
• wrócić do pracy = return to work
• wrócić do Polski = return to Poland

That is why dom changes to domu after do.

This is a very common pattern:

• do
  • genitive

Domu is the genitive singular of dom.

The preposition do usually requires the genitive case, so:

• dom = house/home
• do domu = to the house / home

This is one of the most basic case patterns in Polish:

• iść do sklepu = go to the shop
• wracać do miasta = return to the city
• wrócić do domu = return home

So the form changes because Polish marks grammatical relationships with cases.

Idź is the imperative form of iść (to go) for you singular informal.

It means:

• go!
• in the negative: nie idź = don’t go

So in the sentence:

• ale dziś nie idź tamtędy po zmroku
• but today don’t go that way after dark

This is a command, instruction, or warning directed to one person informally.

Compare:

• idź! = go!
• nie idź! = don’t go!

This is a very good question, because Polish motion verbs are tricky.

The imperative of iść is idź, and this form is also often used in negative commands like:

• Nie idź tam = Don’t go there

Even though Polish also has pójść (to go, set off, go once / in one direction), in everyday usage nie idź is the natural warning here.

A learner should mostly remember the fixed and very common command:

• idź = go
• nie idź = don’t go

Polish verbs of motion can be complicated, but for this sentence, the important thing is simply that nie idź is the normal way to say don’t go to one person.

Tamtędy means:

• that way
• along that route
• through there

It is closely related to którędy:

• którędy = which way
• tamtędy = that way

So the sentence has a nice logical pair:

• Pokażę ci, którędy wrócić do domu
  = I’ll show you which way to get home
• ale dziś nie idź tamtędy po zmroku
  = but today don’t go that way after dark

This is a very natural pairing in Polish.

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• tam = there (location/direction in a general sense)
• tamtędy = that way / through there / by that route

Compare:

• Nie idź tam = Don’t go there
• Nie idź tamtędy = Don’t go that way / don’t go via that route

In your sentence, the speaker is warning about a particular route, so tamtędy is the better and more precise word.

Po zmroku means:

• after dark
• after nightfall
• literally: after dusk

The expression is built with:

• po = after
• zmrok = dusk / twilight / darkness falling

After po in a time expression like this, Polish uses the locative:

• zmrok → zmroku

So:

• po zmroku = after dark

It is a very common and useful phrase.

Dziś means today.

Polish word order is more flexible than English, so dziś can move around depending on emphasis. In this sentence:

• ale dziś nie idź tamtędy po zmroku

the speaker is emphasizing today as the important condition: but today, don’t go that way after dark

Other word orders are possible, for example:

• Ale nie idź tamtędy dziś po zmroku
• Ale po zmroku dziś tamtędy nie idź

But the original sentence sounds natural and clear.
Putting dziś early often makes the time condition stand out.

The comma separates the main clause from the subordinate clause.

Structure:

• Pokażę ci = main clause
• którędy wrócić do domu = subordinate clause

So Polish writes:

• Pokażę ci, którędy wrócić do domu...

This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• I’ll show you how to do it.
• I know where he lives.

In Polish, commas are generally used more often and more regularly before subordinate clauses than in English.

Yes, ale here simply means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

1. I’ll show you the way home
2. but don’t go that way after dark today

So the full sentence has this logic:

• helpful information first
• then a warning or restriction

This kind of contrast is very common with ale.

It is informal singular, because of:

• ci = to you (informal singular)
• idź = go! (imperative for informal singular)

If you wanted the formal version addressed to one person, you would normally use pan/pani structures instead. For example, a formal rewording might look different rather than simply replacing each word one-for-one.

So this sentence sounds like speaking to:

• a friend
• a family member
• a child
• someone you know well

Yes, wrócić is perfective.

That matters because perfective verbs often focus on a completed result.
Here, wrócić do domu means to get back home / return home successfully, seen as a completed action.

Its imperfective partner is usually wracać:

• wracać = to be returning / to return repeatedly / habitually
• wrócić = to return once, successfully, as a complete event

In this sentence, wrócić fits well because the idea is: which way to get back home — a complete return.

Yes. In Polish, dom can mean both:

• house
• home

In the phrase wrócić do domu, the meaning is very often simply return home.

This is one of those expressions where English and Polish do not match word-for-word:

• Polish: do domu
• natural English: home

So although the literal meaning is to the house/home, the best English translation is often just home.

A fairly literal version would be:

I will show you, which-way to return to home, but today do not go that-way after dusk.

That sounds awkward in English, but it helps show the Polish structure:

• Pokażę = I will show
• ci = to you
• którędy = which way / by which route
• wrócić = to return
• do domu = to home / home
• ale = but
• dziś = today
• nie idź = do not go
• tamtędy = that way / via that route
• po zmroku = after dark

This kind of literal unpacking is useful for understanding the grammar, even if it is not good English.