Learn Polish (ways of addressing strangers)

‘Mówić na ty’ is something that’s not easily translated into English. It means ‘to be on first-name terms with somebody’ or ‘to address somebody with a familiar version of the pronoun ‘you’’.

It’s something that’s too complicated to explain to somebody who only speaks English because in English, there’s only one ‘you’. Paradoxically, it’s easier to explain this by using a comparison to French, German and Spanish – provided, of course, that you know at least one of these languages!

Addressing strangers in French, German and Spanish

The French have their ‘vous’ and ‘tu’, depending on how formal they wish to be with their interlocutor. The action of addressing somebody with the ‘tu’ form has its own verb – ‘tutoyer’.

In German, the verb is ‘duzen’ – a word which includes the personal pronoun ‘du’ (you) in its core. ‘Duzen’ is the action of using ‘du’ as opposed to ‘Sie’ (the German ‘vous’).

Spanish, similarly, has the singular ‘usted’ and the plural ‘ustedes’. They are the formal equivalents of ‘tú’ and the action of addressing someone with the informal pronoun is ‘tutear’.

Addressing strangers in Polish

In Polish, things are quite similar to French, German and Spanish, except (surprise, surprise) they’re slightly more complicated!

The formal versions of ‘you’ (the familiar ‘ty’, which is the same in feminine and masculine) are:

pani – feminine singular

pan – masculine singular

panie – feminine plural

panowie – masculine plural

państwo – feminine+masculine plural

The cultural implications of the language forms

Now, the linguistic aspect of the above is not a problem. As a learner of Polish as a foreign language, you just need to memorise the five forms. The real problem is cultural, rather than linguistic. When do you get to use them?

To tell you the truth, I don’t even know that myself. And I do sometimes feel uncomfortable using either.

I can tell you, for definite, that you should use it when addressing a stranger who is significantly/visibly older than you. Perhaps also a stranger who is of similar age but who you don’t know personally, e.g. in a shop, a restaurant, etc. Also, definitely in business situations.

I’m not the only one who is confused about this and would like to challenge the existence of the two forms. Here’s a piece from the Economist about how we’re all friends now as we’re slowly beginning to use the familiar form in previously unacceptable contexts.

Do you ever feel uncomfortable using certain familiar/formal forms in the languages you speak? I’d be interested to know your views so please comment below 🙂