Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa i przez to czasem piszą je błędnie.

Dzieci means children. It is the nominative plural form of dziecko (child).

In this sentence, dzieci is the subject, so nominative is used:

• Dzieci często mylą...
• Children often confuse...

A useful thing to remember is that dziecko has an irregular plural:

• singular: dziecko
• plural: dzieci

Mylą is the 3rd person plural present tense of mylić.

So:

• mylić = to confuse / to mix up
• mylą = they confuse / they mix up

Here it means that the children confuse similar words with each other.

Examples:

• Często mylę te dwa słowa. = I often confuse these two words.
• Oni mylą imiona. = They mix up names.

Because podobne słowa is the direct object of mylą, and mylić takes the accusative.

Here:

• słowa = plural of słowo (word)
• podobne = similar, agreeing with słowa

For this noun, the nominative plural and accusative plural look the same:

• nominative plural: podobne słowa
• accusative plural: podobne słowa

So even though it is the object, the form does not change visibly.

They are different adverbs:

• często = often
• czasem = sometimes

So the sentence has two different frequency words:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa = Children often confuse similar words
• i przez to czasem piszą je błędnie = and because of that they sometimes write them incorrectly

This is natural: they often confuse the words, and as a result they sometimes spell/write them wrongly.

Przez to means because of that, as a result, or due to that.

In this sentence:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa
• i przez to czasem piszą je błędnie

The phrase przez to connects the two ideas:

1. they confuse similar words
2. because of that, they sometimes write them incorrectly

It is slightly more like as a consequence of that than just a simple because.

Compare:

• dlatego = therefore / that is why
• przez to = because of that / due to that

Both can be similar, but przez to stresses the consequence more directly.

Je means them and refers back to podobne słowa (similar words).

So:

• piszą je = they write them

Polish often uses an object pronoun when English would too. Here it avoids repeating słowa.

Structure:

• piszą = they write
• je = them
• błędnie = incorrectly

So literally:

• they write them incorrectly

Because je is the normal unstressed accusative plural pronoun here.

Since piszą takes a direct object, we need the accusative:

• je = them

Ich can sometimes also appear, but je is the standard simple choice in a sentence like this.

Here:

• słowa is the thing being written
• so je = them

For a learner, the safest choice in this kind of sentence is:

• Widzę je. = I see them.
• Piszą je. = They write them.

Because błędnie is an adverb, while błędne is an adjective.

Here we need an adverb because it describes how they write:

• piszą je błędnie = they write them incorrectly

Compare:

• błędne słowo = an incorrect word
  
  • here błędne is an adjective describing the noun
• pisać błędnie = to write incorrectly
  
  • here błędnie is an adverb describing the action

So:

• błędnie answers how do they write them?
• błędne would describe what kind of words?

Yes, źle could work in many contexts, but the nuance is a little different.

• źle = badly / wrong / incorrectly
• błędnie = incorrectly / erroneously

In this sentence, błędnie sounds a bit more precise and formal, especially because it is about writing words incorrectly.

Compare:

• piszą je źle = they write them wrong
• piszą je błędnie = they write them incorrectly

Both are understandable, but błędnie fits especially well in educational or language-related contexts.

Because i here simply joins two parts with the same subject:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa
• i przez to czasem piszą je błędnie

In standard Polish, you normally do not put a comma before i when it just connects coordinated parts of a sentence.

So this is correct:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa i przez to czasem piszą je błędnie.

A comma would usually appear only in more special situations, not in a basic coordination like this one.

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible.

The given sentence is natural:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa i przez to czasem piszą je błędnie.

But other orders are also possible, depending on emphasis. For example:

• Dzieci mylą często podobne słowa...
• Czasem dzieci przez to piszą je błędnie.

The original version sounds neutral and clear:

• dzieci = topic/subject
• często = frequency
• mylą podobne słowa = main action
• przez to czasem piszą je błędnie = consequence

So the sentence is not using a strange structure; it is just a natural, unmarked order.

Both verbs are imperfective:

• mylić → mylą
• pisać → piszą

That makes sense because the sentence describes habitual/repeated actions, not one completed event:

• children often confuse similar words
• and sometimes write them incorrectly

In Polish, imperfective verbs are normally used for:

• repeated actions
• general truths
• habits
• ongoing actions

So this sentence is a good example of that.

Literally, piszą means write.

But in context, because the object is words and the result is błędnie, English may naturally translate this as:

• write them incorrectly
• or spell them incorrectly

So the Polish uses the ordinary verb pisać (to write), but in English the most natural meaning may be closer to spell.

No. Podobne means similar, not the same.

So:

• podobne słowa = similar words
• not identical words

This is important because the sentence is about children mixing up words that resemble each other in sound, spelling, or meaning.

Compare:

• ten sam = the same
• podobny = similar

Examples:

• To są te same słowa. = These are the same words.
• To są podobne słowa. = These are similar words.

No, not exactly.

• mylą coś / kogoś = they confuse / mix up something or someone
• mylą się = they are mistaken / they make a mistake

In this sentence:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa means
• Children often confuse similar words

If you said:

• Dzieci często się mylą that would mean
• Children are often mistaken

So the reflexive się changes the meaning.

Yes, but the structure and nuance would change a little.

For example:

• Dzieci często mylą podobne słowa, dlatego czasem piszą je błędnie. = Children often confuse similar words, therefore they sometimes write them incorrectly.

Or:

• Dzieci czasem piszą je błędnie, bo często mylą podobne słowa. = Children sometimes write them incorrectly because they often confuse similar words.

The original przez to is very natural because it directly expresses consequence:

• they confuse words
• as a result, they write them incorrectly

So all are possible, but przez to is a particularly good fit here.