Breakdown of Na zegarze w kuchni jest za pięć dwunasta.
być
to be
w
in / on (a day)
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
pięć
five
Questions & Answers about Na zegarze w kuchni jest za pięć dwunasta.
How does the phrase za pięć dwunasta work grammatically to mean 'five to twelve'?
The preposition za is used here to mean 'to'. It is followed by the minutes in the Accusative case (pięć, which looks identical to its basic form). The hour is simply in the Nominative case (dwunasta), as if you were saying 'in five minutes, it is the twelfth (hour).'
I learned that za means 'behind'. Why is it used for time here?
While za does mean 'behind' for physical locations, it also means 'in' when talking about future time (for example, 'in five minutes'). When telling time, Polish uses this exact logic: 'in five minutes, it will be twelve.' This is the standard way to express 'minutes to the hour' in Polish.
Why is the word for clock zegarze here instead of zegar?
Because the sentence describes a static location ('on the clock'), it requires the Locative case. The basic noun is zegar (a masculine word). To form the Locative, we add -e, which forces the hard -r to soften into -rz, resulting in na zegarze.
Why does kuchnia (kitchen) become kuchni?