Seasons and the bare Instrumental case
In Polish, you can express that an event happens "in" a certain season or time of day by simply putting the noun into the Instrumental case without any preposition.
| Noun | Meaning | Instrumental (Time) | Meaning |
|---|
| wiosna | spring | wiosną | in the spring |
| lato | summer | latem | in the summer |
| jesień | autumn | jesienią | in the autumn |
| zima | winter | zimą | in the winter |
| dzień | day | dniem | by day |
| noc | night | nocą | at night |
Spring and dawn
To talk about events happening in the spring, use wiosną. When talking about dawn (świt), you will use the preposition o with the Locative case: o świcie (at dawn). Notice how these are used to describe nature (przyroda).
Autumn and dusk
For autumn, use jesienią. When discussing dusk (zmierzch), you will often use prepositions like przed (before) taking the Instrumental case, or po (after) taking the Locative case. You will frequently see these times used to describe leaves or fog falling (opadać).
Winter and night
You can combine time expressions, such as zimą (in the winter) and nocą (at night), to set a precise scene. When talking about winter nights, you might encounter a strong frost (mróz).
Daytime and changing weather
To express "during the day" or "by day", use dniem. As the weather warms, you will often talk about snow melting (using the verb topnieć) and the resulting mud (błoto).
Summer landscapes
The Instrumental form for summer is latem. Whether you are looking at a landscape (krajobraz) at dawn or fog falling after dusk (po zmierzchu), these time expressions help you describe natural phenomena accurately.
