Learn Hardcore Polish: Zamiast plotek woli poważne rozmowy o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych. - Instead of gossip she prefers serious conversations about work and family traditions.

The basic noun is plotka (gossip, a piece of gossip).
Its forms (singular → plural) include:
- Nominative: plotka → plotki (used as the subject: Plotki są głupie.)
- Genitive plural: plotek (used after zamiast, bez, etc.)

So:

zamiast plotek = instead of (some) gossip
(zamiast
- genitive plural)

Using zamiast plotki (genitive singular) would mean instead of one piece of gossip and would sound strange here, because we normally think of gossip as an uncountable-type plural.
Using zamiast plotki / zamiast plotkami / zamiast plotki in other cases would simply be ungrammatical after zamiast.

Why is there no pronoun like on or ona in the sentence? How do we know who prefers these conversations?

Polish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (like ja, ty, on, ona) are very often omitted when the person is clear from context.

woli is the 3rd person singular form of woleć (to prefer).
So woli can mean:
- on woli – he prefers
- ona woli – she prefers
- ono woli – it prefers (rare in this meaning)

In a real text or conversation, you would already know from the previous sentence who is being talked about. That’s why the full sentence is just:

Zamiast plotek woli poważne rozmowy…
Instead of gossip, (he/she) prefers serious conversations…

If you really need to emphasize the subject, you can say On woli… or Ona woli…, but normally the pronoun is dropped.

Why is it poważne rozmowy, not poważne rozmowa or poważna rozmowa?

Rozmowa (conversation) is a feminine noun.

Singular:
- Nominative: rozmowa
Plural:
- Nominative: rozmowy

Here we are talking about multiple conversations, so we use the plural rozmowy.

The verb woleć (to prefer) takes its object in the accusative case. For feminine nouns, the accusative plural looks the same as the nominative plural:

Nominative plural: rozmowy
Accusative plural: rozmowy

Adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number and case, so:

feminine, plural, accusative: poważne rozmowy

Other (incorrect) options:

poważne rozmowa – adjective plural, noun singular → mismatch
poważna rozmowa – both singular → a serious conversation (singular), not what the sentence says

What exactly is the difference between woleć and lubić here?

Both woleć and lubić relate to likes, but they are used differently:

lubić = to like (in general)
- Lubi poważne rozmowy. – He/She likes serious conversations.
woleć = to prefer (A rather than B)
- Woli poważne rozmowy zamiast plotek. – He/She prefers serious conversations instead of gossip.

So in this sentence, we have a comparison/choice: not gossip, but serious conversations. That is why woleć is the natural verb here.

Why is it o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych? What cases are pracy, tradycjach, and rodzinnych?

The preposition o (meaning about in this context) usually takes the locative case when it means about something.

praca (work, job)
- Locative singular: pracy
- So o pracy = about work / about his/her job
tradycja (tradition)
- Locative plural: tradycjach
- So o tradycjach = about traditions
rodzinny (family, adjective)
- It must agree with tradycjach in gender, number, and case:
  - feminine, plural, locative → rodzinnych
- So o tradycjach rodzinnych = about family traditions

All together: o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych – about work and family traditions
Every word after o is in the locative because o (in the sense about) requires locative.

Could I say rozmowy o pracę instead of rozmowy o pracy?

No, not with this meaning.

The preposition o can govern different cases depending on meaning:

o + locative → about (the topic of conversation, thoughts, etc.)
- mówić o pracy – to talk about work
- rozmowy o pracy – conversations about work
o + accusative → for, in order to get (asking or fighting for something)
- prosić o pracę – to ask for a job
- walczyć o pracę – to fight for work

In your sentence, we’re talking about the topic of the conversations, so we must use o + locative:

rozmowy o pracy – conversations about work

Rozmowy o pracę would sound like conversations for a job (as in, to obtain it), which is not intended here.

Why is it tradycjach rodzinnych and not rodzinne tradycje?

Both orders are possible in Polish, but they have different uses and nuances.

rodzinne tradycje – adjective before the noun
- Neutral describing phrase: family traditions
- This is the most common word order in simple noun phrases.
tradycjach rodzinnych – noun + adjective in the locative plural
- Here, word order is still natural: tradycjach rodzinnych is very typical after o (about family traditions).

In the sentence:

…rozmowy o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych.

we are in the locative, and o tradycjach rodzinnych sounds perfectly idiomatic.
You could say o rodzinnych tradycjach, and it would still be correct, but:

o tradycjach rodzinnych is slightly more common in this fixed expression type.
The meaning does not really change; it’s mainly stylistic.

Why is poważne placed before rozmowy? Could we say rozmowy poważne?

Yes, rozmowy poważne is grammatically possible, but the usual order in Polish is:

adjective + noun → poważne rozmowy

This is the neutral, most common way to combine adjectives with nouns.

Putting the adjective after the noun (like rozmowy poważne) is:

more marked/emphatic
often used in poetry, stylistic emphasis, or when contrasting:
- Nie interesują go rozmowy lekkie, tylko rozmowy poważne.

In your sentence, we simply describe the type of conversations he/she prefers, so the neutral order poważne rozmowy is the best choice.

Could I change the word order to Woli poważne rozmowy o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych zamiast plotek? Is that still correct?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct:

Woli poważne rozmowy o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych zamiast plotek.

Polish word order is relatively flexible. The main effects of moving zamiast plotek are:

Zamiast plotek woli…
- Slightly stronger emphasis on the contrast: Instead of gossip, he/she prefers…
Woli … zamiast plotek.
- More neutral; the preference is stated first, then the contrast appears at the end.

Both versions are natural; the original one just foregrounds the “instead of gossip” part.

Why is there no comma before o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych?

In Polish, commas are mostly used:

between main clauses
before some conjunctions (ale, że, ponieważ, etc.)
in certain lists

Here, o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych is a prepositional phrase that functions as part of the object:

poważne rozmowy [o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych]

There is no need to separate it by a comma, because it is tightly connected to rozmowy and does not form an independent clause. So:

… woli poważne rozmowy o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych. – correct
… woli poważne rozmowy, o pracy i tradycjach rodzinnych. – incorrect

What case is plotek exactly, and how does it decline from plotka?

Plotka (a piece of gossip) is a feminine noun. Its main forms are:

Singular:
- Nominative: plotka
- Genitive: plotki
- Dative: plotce
- Accusative: plotkę
- Instrumental: plotką
- Locative: plotce
- Vocative: plotko
Plural:
- Nominative: plotki
- Genitive: plotek
- Dative: plotkom
- Accusative: plotki
- Instrumental: plotkami
- Locative: plotkach
- Vocative: plotki

In the sentence Zamiast plotek…, plotek is genitive plural, required by the preposition zamiast.

So the structure is:

zamiast
- genitive plural (plotek)
  → instead of gossip