Learn Hardcore Polish: Każde małżeństwo ma czasem konflikt, ale ważne jest, żeby rozmawiać. - Every marriage sometimes has a conflict, but it is important to talk.

małżeństwo is a neuter singular noun.
The pronoun każdy (“every”) has forms:
- każdy – masculine
- każda – feminine
- każde – neuter

So it must be każde małżeństwo, “every marriage.”

Why is małżeństwo singular if we’re talking about marriages in general?

The structure każde + singular noun means “every …” in a general, distributive sense.
So każde małżeństwo literally means “each individual marriage,” and taken together it refers to marriages in general. Using a plural (każde małżeństwa) would be ungrammatical here.

What case is małżeństwo in, and why is there no “a/the marriage”?

małżeństwo here is in the nominative singular, because it’s the subject of the verb ma (“has”).

Polish doesn’t use articles like “a/an/the”, so małżeństwo by itself can mean “a marriage” or “the marriage,” depending on context. The word każde already gives it the sense “every marriage.”

Why is it ma and not mają?

The verb ma is 3rd person singular (“has”), and it must agree with the subject każde małżeństwo (singular).
mają is 3rd person plural (“have”), which would be used with a plural subject, e.g. małżeństwa mają konflikt (“marriages have conflict”).

What exactly does czasem mean, and how is it different from czasami or od czasu do czasu?

All three mean roughly “sometimes / occasionally”:

czasem – very common, neutral style.
czasami – also very common, basically the same meaning; some people feel it’s a bit more colloquial, but both are standard.
od czasu do czasu – literally “from time to time,” a bit longer and slightly more expressive, but still normal.

In this sentence you could easily replace czasem with czasami or od czasu do czasu without changing the meaning much.

Why is konflikt singular here and not plural konflikty?

Using konflikt in the singular treats “conflict” as a general phenomenon that appears in a marriage:

ma konflikt ≈ “has (some) conflict / has conflict sometimes.”

If you say ma konflikty, you’re focusing on multiple separate conflicts as countable events:

Każde małżeństwo ma czasem konflikty – “Every marriage sometimes has conflicts.”

Both are grammatically correct; the singular is just a bit more generic or abstract.

What case is konflikt, and how can I tell?

konflikt here is accusative singular, functioning as the direct object of ma (“has”).

For masculine inanimate nouns like konflikt, the nominative and accusative forms are the same in the singular. You know it’s accusative here because:

małżeństwo is the subject (nominative),
ma is a transitive verb (“to have”),
so konflikt must be its object (accusative).

Could the word order be Każde małżeństwo czasem ma konflikt? Does anything change?

Yes, Każde małżeństwo czasem ma konflikt is also correct.

In Polish, adverbs like czasem are quite flexible in position.

Każde małżeństwo ma czasem konflikt – slightly emphasizes “has conflict, sometimes.”
Każde małżeństwo czasem ma konflikt – slightly emphasizes “sometimes has conflict.”

The difference is very subtle; both sound natural.

Why is there a comma before ale and another one before żeby?

Polish comma rules are quite strict:

ale (“but”) joins two independent clauses, so there is always a comma before it:
- … ma konflikt, ale ważne jest …
żeby introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause expressing what is important), so it also requires a comma:
- … ważne jest, żeby rozmawiać.

So both commas are obligatory in standard Polish.

What does żeby do in this sentence, and how is it different from something like żeby rozmawiali?

Here żeby introduces a subordinate clause that expresses what is important:

ważne jest, żeby… ≈ “it is important (that) …”

Two patterns are common:

żeby + infinitive:
- ważne jest, żeby rozmawiać – “it’s important to talk (in general).”
  The subject is generic/unspecified (“people, couples”).
żeby + personal verb form:
- ważne jest, żeby małżonkowie rozmawiali – “it’s important that spouses talk.”
  Here the subject (małżonkowie) is explicit, and rozmawiali agrees with it.

So żeby rozmawiać is a bit more general, while żeby rozmawiali points clearly to “they” (the spouses).

Why is rozmawiać in the infinitive, not a personal form like rozmawiają or rozmawiało?

The infinitive rozmawiać works like English “to talk” after structures such as ważne jest (“it’s important”).

ważne jest, żeby rozmawiać – “it’s important to talk.”
A personal form like rozmawiają (“they talk”) would not fit directly after żeby in this pattern; for that you would normally use the past/subjunctive-like form:
ważne jest, żeby rozmawiali – “it’s important that they talk.”

So the infinitive keeps it general and non‑personal.

What is the nuance of rozmawiać compared with mówić, gadać, or porozmawiać?

rozmawiać – “to talk / to have a conversation”; implies two‑way communication.
mówić – “to speak / to say”; can be one‑way, like just talking by yourself or giving information.
gadać – informal/colloquial “to chat / to talk (a lot)”; more casual, sometimes slightly negative.
porozmawiać – perfective of rozmawiać; “to have a talk (at least once, a concrete conversation).”

In this sentence rozmawiać fits best, because it’s about couples communicating with each other in general, not just speaking or a single specific talk.

Could you say Ważne jest rozmawiać without żeby?

You might hear Ważne jest rozmawiać, but it sounds influenced by English and is not the most natural standard Polish. More idiomatic options are:

Ważne jest, żeby rozmawiać.
Ważne jest rozmawianie. (“Talking is important.”)

So in careful Polish, it’s better to keep żeby or to use the verbal noun rozmawianie.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts in każde, małżeństwo, and czasem?

każde – ż is like the s in measure; ę here is pronounced like a plain e (especially at the end of the syllable in everyday speech).
małżeństwo – ł is like English w; rz is the same sound as ż (again, like s in measure); stress is on the second‑to‑last syllable: ma‑ŁŻEŃS‑two.
czasem – cz is like ch in chair; again stress on the second‑to‑last: CZA‑sem.

Polish always stresses the second‑to‑last syllable in regular words, which helps a lot with pronunciation.