Learn Polish: Ten samolot poleci do Polski w nocy. - This airplane will fly to Poland at night.

Poleci is a perfective verb, made by adding the prefix po- to the directed motion verb lecieć (to fly). Adding po- to these verbs creates a future tense that means setting off or completing a trip. If we used the imperfective będzie leciał, it would mean the plane 'will be flying' (focusing on the ongoing journey instead of the completed trip).

Why does the word for Poland change to Polski?

The preposition do (to / towards) always forces the following noun into the Genitive case. For feminine nouns ending in -a like Polska, the Genitive ending is usually -y or -i. Because Polska has a k before the ending, it takes an -i, becoming do Polski.

Why is the phrase for 'at night' w nocy?

The preposition w (in / at) is used with the Locative case for certain times of day. Noc (night) is an unusual word in Polish: it is a feminine noun even though it ends in a consonant! For these special feminine nouns, the Locative ending is -y, which gives us the set phrase w nocy.

Why do we use Ten instead of To for 'This airplane'?