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  What it means

  Literally “time heals wounds,” this idiom carries the same meaning as its English counterpart — with enough time, emotional pain fades and people recover from loss, grief, or heartbreak. Poles use it as a consolation to someone going through a difficult period, or sometimes ironically when the healing seems to take far too long.

  Vocabulary

  • czas — time (masculine noun, nominative)
  • leczy — heals, treats (third-person singular of leczyć)
  • leczyć — to heal, to treat (imperfective)
  • rany — wounds (accusative plural of rana)
  • rana — wound, injury

  Grammar note

  'Rany' is the accusative plural of 'rana' (feminine), which is the direct object of 'leczyć'. The sentence follows a standard Polish SVO word order. The verb 'leczyć' is imperfective, indicating an ongoing or habitual process rather than a one-time event — time continually heals.

  Cultural context

  This is a universal, neutral proverb used sincerely in consolation. It appears in poetry, popular songs, and everyday conversation. While it functions like a proverb in tone, it is typically classified as an idiom/saying. A slightly ironic version 'czas leczy rany, ale zostają blizny' ('time heals wounds, but scars remain') is also popular.

  Beginner

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