Bits of Polish

As we saw in the previous post, small words can be problematic and ambiguous – and at the same time interesting! Today we’ll have a look at another one – czy. It has more than one use, and because it fulfills important functions, it’s very common and you can see it in different contexts. Let’s start with what I think is the easiest – and most imporant – one.

Yes/no questions

Transforming statement into yes/no questions is a piece of cake. You take your sentence, stick a czy in the beginning, a question mark in the end and you’re done. No troublesome changes in the word order, weird auxilary verbs and other nightmares of English learners!

Ta książka jest bardzo droga.
This book is very expensive.

Czy ta książka jest bardzo droga?
Is this book very expensive?

Anna lubi wszystkie koty.
Anna likes all cats.

Czy Anna lubi wszystkie koty?
Does Anna like all cats?

Twoje dzieci jedzą dużo czekolady.
Your children eat a lot of chocolate.

Czy twoje dzieci jedzą dużo czekolady?
Do your children eat a lot of chocolate?

Easy, right? As you can guess, the word czy doesn’t really mean anything here – it’s not a verb like do, just a particle that indicates a question is about to follow. But let’s explore the topic of questions a bit deeper. Imagine you want to transform the above-mentioned sentences into indirect speech: I don’t know if the book is expensive. In English, this type of construction consists of two clauses: I don’t know and The book is expensive, connected with if. How about Polish then? What’s the Polish word for if (in this context only, though)?

Piotr pyta, czy ta książka jest droga.
Piotr is asking if this book is expensive.

Nie wiem, czy Anna lubi wszystkie koty.
I don’t know if Anna likes all cats.

Chcielibyśmy wiedzieć, czy twoje dzieci jedzą dużo czekolady.
We would like to know if your children eat a lot of chocolate.

See? This time, our czy is the equivalent of the conjunction if. You have now seen that making yes/no questions and transforming them into reported speech is a matter of, well, sticking stuff together.

Or?

Another important use of czy is that corresponding to the English or in situations where you want your listener to pick only one of the possibilities.

Chcesz kawy czy herbaty?
Do you want coffee or tea?

Która książka jest lepsza – ta czy tamta?
Which book is better – this or that one?

Które miasto jest większe – Poznań czy Wrocław?
Which city is bigger – Poznań or Wrocław?

Zostajemy w domu czy idziemy do kina?
Are we staying at home or going to the cinema?

Zamierzasz zrobić to dzisiaj czy jutro?
Are you going to do it today or tomorrow?

Note that this is an exclusive or – your listener is supposed to choose one of the options. It’s not the same or you use in sentences like I’m going to do it either today or tomorrow. If you want to render the either…or construction in Polish, you have to use another conjunction: albo.

Zamierzam zrobić to dzisiaj albo jutro.
I’m going to do it either today or tomorrow.