Breakdown of Babcia siedzi przy stole.
stół
table
siedzieć
to sit
babcia
the grandmother
przy
by, at, next to (+ Locative)
Questions & Answers about Babcia siedzi przy stole.
Why does the sentence use przy instead of w or na for "at"?
The preposition przy translates to "by", "near", or "next to". In Polish, when you sit "at" a table, you are physically sitting next to it, so you use przy. If you used na (on) or w (in), it would mean grandmother is sitting on the table or inside it!
Why is the word for table spelled stole here? I thought table was stół.
The preposition przy requires the noun following it to be in the Locative case (a grammatical form used for locations). The dictionary word is stół. To put it in this case, we add an -e ending. This triggers a sound change inside the word: the ó changes to o, and the ł changes to l, creating stole.
Does siedzi mean "sits" or "is sitting"?
It means both! Polish doesn't have a separate continuous tense for actions happening right now. Babcia siedzi can mean "Grandmother sits" (in general) or "Grandmother is sitting" (right now). You just rely on context to know which one is meant.
Where is the word for "the" before table?
Polish does not have articles like "a", "an", or "the". The word just translates directly as "table", and you add "the" in English to make the translation sound natural.