Learn Hardcore Polish: Po konflikcie w rodzinie wszyscy chcą spokoju w domu. - After a conflict in the family, everyone wants peace at home.

konflikt (nominative) → konflikcie (locative)
Pattern: po + locative = after X
- po pracy (after work)
- po obiedzie (after lunch)
- po lekcji (after the lesson)

So po konflikcie literally means “after (the) conflict”, and using po konflikt would be grammatically incorrect in this meaning.

What case is “w rodzinie” and why isn’t it “w rodzinę”?

W rodzinie is in the locative case.

rodzina (nominative) → rodzinie (locative)
The preposition w can take:
- locative when it means in, inside (static location)
- accusative when it means into (movement)

Here the meaning is “in the family” (static situation), so we use w + locative:

w rodzinie (in the family)
w domu (in the house)
w szkole (in the school / at school)

W rodzinę (accusative) would mean “into the family” (direction of movement), which doesn’t fit this sentence.

What is the difference between “wszyscy” and “każdy”, and why is “wszyscy” used here?

Both relate to people, but they’re used differently:

wszyscy = everyone / all (people) together
- It emphasizes the group as a whole.
każdy = each person / every person (individually)
- It emphasizes individuals one by one.

In this sentence:

wszyscy chcą spokoju w domu = everyone wants peace at home
→ The focus is that the whole group (the entire family) wants peace.

You could say Każdy chce spokoju w domu, but that sounds more like considering each person individually; the original wszyscy fits better with the idea of a shared, collective wish after a conflict.

Why is it “chcą spokoju” and not “chcą spokój”?

The verb chcieć (to want) can take both genitive and accusative, but with a nuance:

Genitive often expresses:
- an indefinite amount (some, any), or
- something abstract or not clearly delimited.
Accusative often expresses:
- a specific, concrete object (this, that, the X).

Compare:

Chcę kawy. = I want (some) coffee. → genitive (kawy)
Chcę tę kawę. = I want this coffee. → accusative (kawę)

In chcą spokoju:

spokój (peace) is abstract and indefinite (some peace, peace in general), so genitive (spokoju) is natural.
chcą spokój sounds wrong here; with abstract nouns like spokój, genitive is the normal choice unless you heavily specify it (e.g. chcą ten spokój – “they want this peace,” which would be unusual in this context).

What is the base form of “chcą”, and how is “chcieć” conjugated in the present tense?

The base (infinitive) form is chcieć = to want.

Present tense conjugation:

ja chcę – I want
ty chcesz – you want (singular, informal)
on/ona/ono chce – he/she/it wants
my chcemy – we want
wy chcecie – you want (plural)
oni/one chcą – they want

So chcą is 3rd person plural: “they want”.
In the sentence: wszyscy chcą spokoju = everyone wants peace (literally: all (they) want peace).

What cases are all the nouns in this sentence in, and why?

Sentence: Po konflikcie w rodzinie wszyscy chcą spokoju w domu.

Nouns:

konflikcie
- From konflikt
- Case: locative (po + locative = after X)
- Meaning: after the conflict
rodzinie
- From rodzina
- Case: locative (w + locative = in X, static)
- Meaning: in the family
spokoju
- From spokój
- Case: genitive (object of chcieć in an abstract/indefinite sense)
- Meaning: (some) peace
domu
- From dom
- Case: locative (w + locative = in X)
- Meaning: at home / in the house

So you have a nice mix of locative (after, in) and genitive (wanting peace).

Could I change the word order, for example to “Wszyscy w domu chcą spokoju po konflikcie w rodzinie”? Does it change the meaning?

Polish word order is relatively flexible. Your alternative:

Wszyscy w domu chcą spokoju po konflikcie w rodzinie.

is grammatical and still means essentially the same thing.

Word order mainly affects emphasis:

Original: Po konflikcie w rodzinie wszyscy chcą spokoju w domu.
→ Emphasis on time/situation: After the conflict in the family (that’s the starting point of the sentence).
Alternative: Wszyscy w domu chcą spokoju po konflikcie w rodzinie.
→ Emphasis on who and where: Everyone at home wants peace (and after the conflict in the family is additional information at the end).

In everyday speech, both orders sound natural. The original feels slightly more narrative: first the conflict, then the result (everyone wants peace at home).

What is the difference between “spokój” and “cisza”?

Both can be translated as something like peace/quiet, but they’re not the same:

spokój
- broader: peace, calm, tranquility
- can be about:
  - emotional peace (spokój ducha – peace of mind)
  - absence of trouble or conflict
  - general calm atmosphere
- In this sentence: spokoju w domu = peace at home (no fights, no tension).
cisza
- mainly silence, absence of sound
- focuses on how loud/quiet it is
- Example: Chcę ciszy = I want silence (no noise).

So wszyscy chcą spokoju w domu is about peaceful relations and atmosphere, not just the house being physically quiet.

Could I say “Po rodzinnym konflikcie” instead of “Po konflikcie w rodzinie”? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Po rodzinnym konflikcie = after the family conflict

Difference in nuance:

Po konflikcie w rodzinie
- Literally: after the conflict in the family
- Slightly more neutral, just locates the conflict inside the family.
Po rodzinnym konflikcie
- Literally: after the family conflict
- The adjective rodzinnym makes family sound more like a defining characteristic of the conflict: a family-type conflict.

In practice, both are very natural and will usually be understood the same way. Po konflikcie w rodzinie is maybe a bit more explicit about the conflict happening within the family.

Why is it “w domu” and not “na domu”?

Polish distinguishes between being in something and being on something:

w + locative = in / inside
- w domu – in the house / at home
- w szafie – in the wardrobe
- w mieście – in the city
na + locative = on / at (surface or certain places)
- na stole – on the table
- na dachu – on the roof
- na dworcu – at the station
- na uczelni – at the university

Since you mean “in the house / at home”, you must use w domu.
Na domu would literally mean on the house (on its surface/roof) and would be wrong in this context.

Is “w domu” here more like “in the house” or “at home”? How should I think of it?

W domu can mean both, depending on context:

in the house – literal physical location inside the building
at home – more abstract, meaning in the home environment / in family life

In this sentence, after a family conflict, the focus is on home life and family atmosphere, so “at home” is usually the best translation.

So:
wszyscy chcą spokoju w domu = everyone wants peace at home (in their home/family life), not just inside the building.

How do you pronounce “wszyscy” and “chcą”? The consonant clusters look difficult.

They are tricky but regular.

wszyscy (everyone):

IPA roughly: /ˈfʂɨst͡sɨ/
Step by step:
- w is pronounced like f here (before sz), so w + sz → fsz.
- sz = English “sh”
- y = a hard “i”, like the i in roses (but more central)
- sc here is pronounced like st-s, merged: sts

So you can approximate it as: FSH-TSY (one stress, on the first syllable: WSZY-stsy).

chcą (they want):

IPA roughly: /xtsɔw̃/
Step by step:
- ch = a hard h, like German Bach
- c = ts
- ą at the end: nasalised sound, often pronounced like ą → on/om/ą depending on context. Here it’s close to “ą” = “ą” (like ą in idą), often realized similar to “ą” ≈ “om/ą”.

A good approximation for learners: h-tsą (like “h-tson” with a nasal on).