Learn Hardcore Polish: Czasem mają konflikt, ale szybko się godzą i są z siebie dumni. - Sometimes they have a conflict, but they make up quickly and are proud of themselves.

Putting czasem at the beginning is very natural and often used when describing habits or general tendencies. Moving it after the verb is also fine and doesn’t really change the meaning, just the rhythm.

Why is there a comma before ale?

In Polish, you must put a comma before coordinating conjunctions like ale (but) when they join two clauses:

Czasem mają konflikt, ale szybko się godzą…
- Clause 1: Czasem mają konflikt
- Clause 2: (oni) szybko się godzą i są z siebie dumni

Polish comma rules are stricter than English ones. Even though in English you might sometimes omit the comma before but, in Polish you do not omit it here.

Why is there no word for “they” in the sentence?

Polish is a pro-drop language, which means subject pronouns like oni (they) are usually omitted when the verb ending already shows the person and number.

mają → 3rd person plural (they)
godzą (się) → 3rd person plural (they)
są → 3rd person plural (they)

You could say:

Oni czasem mają konflikt, ale szybko się godzą…

but that would usually be used only for emphasis or contrast (e.g. They sometimes have a conflict, not someone else).

What does mają konflikt literally mean, and is it the most natural way to say “they have a conflict / they clash”?

Literally, mają konflikt = “they have a conflict”.

Other common ways to express this idea:

Czasem się kłócą – Sometimes they argue / quarrel
Czasem mają spięcia – Sometimes they have tensions (colloquial)
Czasem są ze sobą skłóceni – Sometimes they are on bad terms with each other

Mieć konflikt is neutral and quite common, especially if you want a slightly more formal or general phrase (“have a conflict” rather than “argue”). It can refer to disagreements, tension, or a clash, not necessarily a loud argument.

Why is it szybko się godzą and not szybko godzą się? Where does się usually go?

Się is a clitic (an unstressed little word) and normally appears:

right after the first stressed element in the verb phrase (usually an adverb or the verb itself).

So:

Szybko się godzą – very natural, adverb szybko first, then się, then the verb.
Godzą się szybko – also correct, with a slight shift of rhythm/emphasis.

What is less typical is:

*Szybko godzą się – possible but sounds more marked/stylized, not the default pattern.

Safe rule: put się immediately after a short adverb (like szybko, często, zawsze) or, if there’s no adverb, after the verb:

Zawsze się godzą.
Czasem się kłócą.
Godzą się szybko.

What exactly does godzić się mean here, and how is it different from pogodzić się or zgodzić się?

There are several related verbs:

godzić się (z kimś)
- Imperfective: ongoing / habitual action: to make up, reconcile (with someone), to be getting along again
- Here: szybko się godzą = they quickly (tend to) make up (habitual).
pogodzić się (z kimś)
- Perfective: completed single act of reconciling
- W końcu się pogodzili. – They finally made up.
zgodzić się (na coś / z kimś)
- To agree (to something / with someone)
- Zgodziłem się na to. – I agreed to that.
- This is about giving consent or sharing an opinion, not reconciling after conflict.

In your sentence, because we’re talking about situations that happen sometimes, the imperfective, habitual form godzić się fits best.

Why is it są z siebie dumni and not something like są dumni z siebie? Is the word order fixed?

Both orders are correct:

…i są z siebie dumni.
…i są dumni z siebie.

Polish word order is flexible. The difference is nuance and rhythm:

są z siebie dumni slightly highlights dumni at the end (common place for something new/important).
są dumni z siebie sounds a bit more neutral and is also very natural.

In most everyday contexts, they’re interchangeable.

What does the structure z siebie mean? Why z and not a different preposition?

The base pattern is:

być dumnym z kogoś / czegoś – to be proud of someone / something

The preposition z here corresponds to English “of” and requires the genitive case.

dumny z córki – proud of (his) daughter
dumna z sukcesu – proud of (her) success
dumni z siebie – proud of themselves

Siebie is the reflexive pronoun used for all persons in the oblique cases (not “ja / ty / on…”, but “myself / yourself / himself…”). It appears here in the genitive case because of the preposition z.

Who exactly does siebie refer to here? Each individual, or the group?

Siebie in plural can refer to:

each person individually: each of them is proud of themselves
or the group collectively: they are proud of themselves as a group

In this sentence:

…i są z siebie dumni.
- Natural reading: They are proud of themselves (for how they handle their conflicts / for making up).

Polish doesn’t distinguish these nuances as explicitly as English; context decides. Both interpretations are compatible and usually you don’t need to choose.

Why is it dumni, not another ending like dumne or dumna?

Dumni is the masculine personal plural form of the adjective dumny (proud).

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun/pronoun they describe:

On jest dumny. – He is proud.
Ona jest dumna. – She is proud.
Ono jest dumne. – It is proud.
One są dumne. – They (all women / non-masculine-personal) are proud.
Oni są dumni. – They (at least one man in the group) are proud.

Since the implied subject is oni (masculine personal “they”), dumni is the correct form.

If the group were only women, you’d say:

Czasem mają konflikt, ale szybko się godzą i są z siebie dumne.

Why is the verb mają in the present tense if we’re talking about something that happens from time to time?

Polish uses the present tense to talk about:

actions happening right now
regular / habitual actions

So:

Czasem mają konflikt = Sometimes they have a conflict / Sometimes they get into conflict.

This is the same use as in English: They sometimes argue (also present tense).

If you wanted to talk about a specific past situation, you’d change the verb tense:

Czasem mieli konflikt, ale szybko się godzili i byli z siebie dumni.
– They sometimes had a conflict, but they quickly made up and were proud of themselves.

Why is konflikt singular instead of plural, like konflikty?

Both are possible, with a slight nuance:

Czasem mają konflikt – Sometimes they have a conflict (now and then one appears).
Czasem mają konflikty – Sometimes they have conflicts (in general, more than one over time).

In practice, both can describe a recurring situation. The singular form here sounds like:

from time to time, a conflict comes up between them.

The plural could sound a bit more like they tend to have many conflicts / they’re often in conflict, depending on context.

Could szybko się godzą be replaced by a perfective form like szybko się pogodzą?

Not in this sentence with its current meaning.

szybko się godzą – they quickly (tend to) make up; present, imperfective, describing a typical, repeated behavior.
szybko się pogodzą – they will quickly make up; future, perfective, referring to one concrete future event.

Because the sentence describes what sometimes happens in general (Czasem mają konflikt…), you need the imperfective present: szybko się godzą. The perfective future wouldn’t match the “sometimes”/habitual sense.