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  What it means

  Literally “every moment” or “every little while.” It is a common adverbial phrase meaning constantly, repeatedly, or every few minutes. It expresses that something happens with very high and often irritating frequency. You might say the bus was late again — it happens ‘co chwila.’ Unlike ‘zawsze’ (always), it focuses on the relentless recurrence of individual moments rather than a universal truth. It is one of the most natural ways to express repetitive frustration in Polish.

  Vocabulary

  • co — every (distributive — not 'what' here)
  • chwila — moment, while (feminine noun, nominative)

  Grammar note

  In this construction 'co' is a distributive particle meaning 'every,' and 'chwila' is in the nominative. The same pattern appears in 'co roku' (every year), 'co tydzień' (every week). 'Chwila' here is nominative, not genitive as one might expect after a preposition.

  Cultural context

  This is a very high-frequency, neutral phrase used in everyday speech at all registers. It is equivalent to English 'every other minute,' 'all the time,' or 'constantly.' It frequently appears in complaints and informal narration.

  Beginner

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