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?

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I remember that when I started learning English, I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that two Polish words that I perceived as quite different, i and a, had just one English equivalent: “and.” I guess if you’re doing it the other way round, looking up “and” in an English-Polish dictionary, you might get a bit confused, as the two words are used in different situations. What are the main differences?

i

The very basic word for “and.” You stick it between two words that go together:

Mama i tata siedzą w ogrodzie.
Mom and dad are sitting in the garden.

Tekst jest długi i nudny.
The text is long and boring.

Lubię gramatykę i ortografię.
I like grammar and orthography.

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