Nieźle znam te piosenki.

Literally, nieźle means not badly, but in real usage it often means quite well, pretty well, or decently.

So Nieźle znam te piosenki is not usually negative or lukewarm. It often sounds like a modest, slightly understated way of saying I know these songs fairly well.

Polish often uses this kind of negative-looking form with a positive meaning.

Znam is the 1st person singular form of the verb znać, which means to know, to be familiar with, or to know well.

Conjugation of znać in the present tense:

• (ja) znam – I know
• (ty) znasz – you know
• (on/ona/ono) zna – he/she/it knows
• (my) znamy – we know
• (wy) znacie – you all know
• (oni/one) znają – they know

Here, znam tells you the subject is I, even though ja is not stated.

In Polish, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So:

• Znam already means I know
• Ja znam also means I know, but ja adds emphasis or contrast

For example:

• Nieźle znam te piosenki. – neutral
• Ja nieźle znam te piosenki. – I know these songs quite well

English usually needs the pronoun, but Polish often does not.

Because te piosenki is the direct object of znam, and with feminine plural non-virile nouns like piosenki, the accusative plural has the same form as the nominative plural.

Singular:

• ta piosenka – this song
• znam tę piosenkę – I know this song

Plural:

• te piosenki – these songs
• znam te piosenki – I know these songs

So although it is the object, the form stays te piosenki.

It is in the accusative plural, because it is the direct object of the verb znać.

However, for this kind of noun, the accusative plural looks the same as the nominative plural:

• te piosenki – nominative plural
• znam te piosenki – accusative plural

This can be confusing at first, because the form does not change visibly.

Yes, both can be translated as to know, but they are used differently.

Use znać for:

• being familiar with people
• knowing places
• knowing songs, books, films
• knowing languages
• being acquainted with something

Use wiedzieć for:

• knowing facts
• knowing information
• knowing that something is true

So:

• Znam te piosenki. – I know these songs / I’m familiar with these songs
• Wiem, że to stara piosenka. – I know that it’s an old song

In this sentence, znać is exactly the right verb.

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible, and changing it usually changes the focus rather than the basic meaning.

For example:

• Nieźle znam te piosenki. – neutral; focus slightly on how well
• Te piosenki znam nieźle. – focus on these songs
• Znam te piosenki nieźle. – also possible, a bit different in rhythm and emphasis

The original sentence sounds natural and standard.

Usually, yes. Compare:

• Dobrze znam te piosenki. – I know these songs well
• Nieźle znam te piosenki. – I know these songs pretty well / fairly well

Dobrze is more direct and straightforward. Nieźle often sounds a bit more conversational, modest, or understated.

Depending on context, nieźle can even sound slightly stronger than its literal meaning suggests.

Most often, te is translated as these, but in context it can sometimes correspond to those as well.

Polish does not always make the same neat distance distinction that English does with this/that and these/those. Very often, ten / ta / to / te simply points to specific things already known in the conversation.

So te piosenki usually means:

• these songs
• sometimes, depending on context, those songs

A rough pronunciation guide is:

NYEZH-weh znam teh pyo-SEN-kee

A few helpful points:

• nie often sounds like nye
• ź is a soft sound somewhat like the middle sound in measure, but softer
• ł sounds like English w
• piosenki has stress on the second-to-last syllable: pio-SEN-ki

As usual in Polish, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable:

• nie-ŹLE
• pio-SEN-ki