Learn Hardcore Polish: W pracy ludzie często plotkują przy kawie, chociaż mówią, że to tylko żarty. - At work people often gossip over coffee, although they say it is only jokes.

You cannot say na pracy here; na is used with some locations (e.g. na uniwersytecie, na poczcie), but w pracy is the fixed, idiomatic phrase for “at work (at one’s workplace)”.

You also can’t just say praca ludzie często plotkują…; you must include the preposition and the correct case: W pracy ludzie…

Why do we need ludzie? Could we just say W pracy często plotkują…?

Both are possible, but they’re slightly different:

W pracy ludzie często plotkują…
Literally: “At work, people often gossip…”
- ludzie = “people”, explicit subject.
W pracy często plotkują…
Literally: “At work, (they) often gossip…”
- The subject oni (“they”) is understood from the verb ending -ują.
- This is also correct and natural.

Using ludzie makes it feel more general (people in general at work), and a bit more neutral or descriptive. Omitting ludzie sounds more like “they (the people we’re talking about) often gossip.”

Why is często placed before plotkują? Can it move, like in English?

The basic neutral placement is:

ludzie często plotkują – “people often gossip”.

General rule: adverbs of frequency like często (often), zwykle (usually), rzadko (rarely) normally go before the verb.

You can move it, but the nuance changes:

Często ludzie plotkują przy kawie.
Emphasis on how often: “It’s often that people gossip over coffee.”
Ludzie plotkują często przy kawie.
Possible, but less neutral; can sound a bit stylistic or give slight emphasis to często.

In everyday speech and writing, ludzie często plotkują is the most natural version.

What exactly is plotkują? How does it relate to the dictionary form plotkować?

Dictionary (infinitive) form: plotkować – “to gossip”.
plotkują = 3rd person plural, present tense:
- oni/one plotkują – “they gossip / they are gossiping”.

Conjugation pattern (present tense):

ja plotkuję – I gossip
ty plotkujesz – you gossip
on/ona/ono plotkuje – he/she/it gossips
my plotkujemy – we gossip
wy plotkujecie – you (pl.) gossip
oni/one plotkują – they gossip

Aspect: plotkować is imperfective, so plotkują here describes a habitual action (something that often happens), not a single completed event.

What case is przy kawie, and why do we use przy here instead of something like na kawie or z kawą?

przy kawie is:

przy
- locative case
kawa (coffee) → kawie (locative singular)

So grammatically it’s “by/near coffee”, but idiomatically it means “over coffee / while having coffee”.

Why przy?

przy kawie – typical phrase for talking/doing something over coffee (during a coffee break, while sitting with a coffee).
na kawie – used more with verbs of movement like iść na kawę, spotkać się na kawie = “go for a coffee / meet for coffee”.
z kawą – “with coffee” (physically with a cup of coffee), e.g.
Siedzę z kawą przy biurku. – “I’m sitting with a coffee at the desk.”

In your sentence, przy kawie is the natural choice: “people often gossip over coffee.”

Why is there a comma before chociaż: …, chociaż mówią…?

In Polish, chociaż (“although / even though”) introduces a subordinate clause. The rule is:

Put a comma before subordinating conjunctions like chociaż, że, bo, kiedy, etc.

So:

W pracy ludzie często plotkują przy kawie, chociaż mówią, że to tylko żarty.

Two clauses:

W pracy ludzie często plotkują przy kawie – main clause.
chociaż mówią, że to tylko żarty – subordinate clause, introduced by chociaż.

That’s why the comma is necessary here.

What’s the difference between chociaż and other words like ale or mimo że?

All can translate to “although / but / even though” in some contexts, but they’re not identical.

ale – “but”, coordinating conjunction:
- Ludzie plotkują, ale mówią, że to tylko żarty.
  “People gossip, but they say it’s just jokes.”
  This is weaker; just contrasts two facts.
chociaż – “although / even though”, subordinating:
- …plotkują…, chociaż mówią, że…
  Stronger idea of contrast/opposition: they gossip despite what they claim.
mimo że – “even though / despite the fact that”:
- …plotkują…, mimo że mówią, że…
  This is a bit stronger and more formal than chociaż, stressing that what they say doesn’t match their behavior.

In your sentence, chociaż is very natural, slightly softer than mimo że, more “everyday” than mimo że, and more explicitly concessive than ale.

Why do we say mówią, że… instead of something like mówią to tylko żarty?

mówią, że… is the standard way to introduce reported speech:

mówić, że… = “to say that…”

So:

mówią, że to tylko żarty
= “they say that it’s just jokes.”

You could say:

Mówią: „To tylko żarty”.
using direct speech and quotation marks, but then you must change the structure (colon + quotation marks).

mówią to tylko żarty without że is ungrammatical in this meaning; you need że to link the two clauses in reported speech.

Why is it to tylko żarty and not są tylko żarty or one są tylko żarty?

to tylko żarty is a very common pattern:

to here is not a normal pronoun like “this/that” pointing at something specific.
It’s part of a “to + noun” structure used for classification/identification:
- To jest żart. – “This/That is a joke.”
- To tylko żart. – “It’s just a joke.”
- To tylko żarty. – “It’s just jokes.” / “They’re just jokes.”

Compare:

To są żarty. – “These/they are jokes.” (also correct)
To są tylko żarty. – also fine; similar meaning, slightly more explicit.

But in everyday speech, To tylko żarty (without są) is very idiomatic and slightly shorter, with a “Don’t take it seriously, it’s just jokes” feel.

Są tylko żarty or one są tylko żarty is wrong, because są (are) needs a compatible structure:

One są tylko żartami. (instrumental) – “They are only jokes.” (grammatically fine but stylistically odd in this context)
Natural choice in your sentence is: że to tylko żarty.

Why is żarty plural? Could we use singular żart here?

żart – a (single) joke.
żarty – jokes (plural).

To tylko żarty suggests:

Either there are several specific jokes,
Or the speaker is talking about the joking in general, as a type of behavior.

You can say:

To tylko żart. – “It’s just a joke.”

That would focus on one particular joke. In the context of plotkowanie (gossiping), żarty in plural sounds more natural, since gossip usually involves many comments/jokes, not just one.