Polski — formal address pan/pani
In Polish, politeness to strangers or superiors is not shown with a special verb form but by addressing the person as pan (to a man), pani (to a woman) or państwo (to a mixed group) and putting the verb in the 3rd person. Casual ty/wy stays for family, friends and children.
How it works
Address one man as pan, one woman as pani, and a mixed or plural group as państwo; the verb then takes the same ending as on/ona/oni — the 3rd person, not the 2nd. So you say Czy pan wie…? and Co państwo zamawiają?, literally "Does the gentleman know…?", "What are the ladies-and-gentlemen ordering?", never Czy pan wiesz?
Examples
| Formal (3rd person) | Informal (ty/wy) | Meaning / use |
|---|---|---|
| Czy pan wie…? | Czy wiesz…? | Do you know…? (to one man) |
| Czy pani ma…? | Czy masz…? | Do you have…? (to one woman) |
| Co państwo zamawiają? | Co zamawiacie? | What are you ordering? (to a mixed group) |
| Proszę pana, gdzie…? | Słuchaj, gdzie…? | Excuse me, sir, where…? (getting a man's attention) |
| Czy pani pozwoli? | Pozwolisz? | May I? / With your permission? (to a woman) |
| Państwo wysiadają? | Wysiadacie? | Are you getting off? (to two or more people, e.g. on a tram) |
Good to know
The classic learner mistake is to mix the polite pronoun with a 2nd-person verb, e.g. Czy pan wiesz? — grammatically wrong. Also note that pan/pani require the 3rd person even though in English "you" feels like 2nd. In the past tense the verb still agrees in gender: to a man Czy pan wiedział?, to a woman Czy pani wiedziała?