Zawsze

Zawsze is a common Polish adverb meaning "always" or "at all times." It is used to express habitual action, general truths, or a sense of constancy. It can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and appears in both formal and everyday language. Examples: Zawsze mówię prawdę. (I always tell the truth.) On zawsze przychodzi na czas. (He always arrives on time.)

In usage, zawsze often conveys a recurring pattern rather than a single moment. It differs from words like ciągle or stale, which emphasize continuous duration. Zawsze can be used in questions, assertions, or exclamations to stress regularity: Zawsze tak robisz? (Do you always do it this way?) It can also appear in fixed phrases that intensify meaning, such as dla zawsze (for always) in some dialectal or poetic contexts.

Common phrases include od zawsze, meaning "for as long as one can remember" or "since forever," and na zawsze, meaning "forever" or "for good." Od zawsze marks a long-standing pattern, while na zawsze refers to permanence or finality in the future or past. Zawsze is versatile across registers, from prose to dialogue, and remains one of the most frequent adverbs in Polish.

Etymology: the word is formed from the prefix za- combined with an archaic stemwsze related to the root meaning "all." It is historically linked with related forms such as wszelki and wszystko, and traces back to Proto-Slavic roots.

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