czasach

Czasach is the locative plural form of the Polish noun czas, meaning time or period. It is used after prepositions to indicate a temporal context, roughly translating to “in the times” or “in the eras.” The expression is common in historical, journalistic, and literary writing. Examples include w czasach nowożytnych (in modern times), w czasach PRL-u (in the times of the Polish People’s Republic), or w czasach dzieciństwa (in childhood times).

Grammatical notes: czas has forms such as czasy (nominative plural), czasów (genitive plural), czasom (dative plural), czasem (instrumental singular), czasach (locative plural). The locative plural czasach is used after prepositions like w, o, na to express temporal settings. The phrase w czasach średniowiecza (in the times of the Middle Ages) illustrates how czasach combines with a genitive singular noun to name a specific era. The usage emphasizes a broad, qualitative sense of history rather than precise dates.

Usage and nuance: czasach tends to foreground cultural, social, or political characteristics associated with a period. It is often employed in historiography, comparative literature, and reportage to situate events, attitudes, or practices within a particular historical frame. It should be distinguished from czasy, the nominative plural that can serve as the subject of a sentence, and from epoka, era, or era-related terms that function more as independent labels.

See also: czasy, epoka, era, okres.