ty

Understanding how to address people is a crucial part of Polish culture.

1. When to use it (and when not to)
Use ty with people you are close to, people your own age (like fellow students), and children. Note that ty is strictly singular (for one person). If you are addressing a group of people informally, use the plural pronoun wy. Avoid using ty with adult strangers, elders, or service workers in traditional, face-to-face settings—that is considered rude. For them, use Pan or Pani instead. However, ty is the default way to address strangers on the internet and is increasingly common in modern corporate environments.

2. Dropping the pronoun
Polish is a "pro-drop" language. The verb ending already tells us the subject is "you" (e.g., robisz = you do). Saying "Ty robisz" sounds like "What are YOU doing?" Use the explicit pronoun only for contrast, like "I like tea, but you like coffee."

3. Verb Agreement
Verbs matching ty always take second-person singular endings. In the present tense, this usually means ending in -sz (e.g., masz, mówisz), with the notable exception of the verb być (to be), where "you are" is jesteś. In the past tense, the ending attaches to a gendered base: it is -eś for men (e.g., robiłeś) and -ś for women (e.g., robiłaś). Interestingly, these past tense endings are movable clitics, meaning they can detach from the verb and attach to the first stressed word in a sentence (e.g., Gdzieś ty był? - Where were you?). For informal commands, the verb takes a special imperative form (e.g., robisz -> rób!, mówisz -> mów!).

4. Different forms (Cases)
Like nouns, ty changes depending on its role in the sentence. It has short forms for normal use, such as the Accusative cię (e.g., Kocham cię - I love you) and the Dative ci (e.g., Dam ci to - I will give this to you). The Genitive case forms are identical to the Accusative (ciebie / cię) and are crucial because Polish requires the Genitive whenever a direct object is negated (e.g., Nie widzę cię - I don't see you) and after many common prepositions (e.g., dla ciebie - for you). It also has long forms (ciebie, tobie) used for emphasis or after prepositions. For example, after a preposition in the Locative case, you must use the long form tobie (e.g., Myślę o tobie - I am thinking about you), because short forms cannot follow prepositions. There is also the Instrumental form tobą (e.g., z tobą - with you), which has no short version. Short forms are "clitics"—they cannot start a sentence and often appear in the second position, but they can also appear at the very end of short sentences.