Informal ty and Polite vy

Level 1

Say ty to friends, family and children: Máš čas? Say vy to strangers and in formal situations: Máte čas?

How It Works

Tykanie means using ty. Vykanie means using vy to one person.

  • Ty (singular verb): friends, family, children, classmates, and usually young people among themselves. Kde bývaš?
  • Vy (plural verb): adults you do not know, shop staff, officials, teachers, and colleagues until you agree otherwise. Kde bývate?
  • Vy is also simply the plural "you": Deti, kde ste?

The choice runs through the whole sentence. It affects the verb, commands, greetings and pronouns:

Switching to ty. Moving from vy to ty is a small social step. It is usually offered by the older person or the one in the more senior position: Môžeme si tykať? (Shall we say ty to each other?) If you are unsure, use vy.

With polite vy the verb stays plural, also in the past tense (boli ste), but an adjective matches the real person: Ste unavený? to a man, Ste unavená? to a woman. See vykanie a zhoda. In letters, polite Vy is often written with a capital letter; see Vážený pán / Vážená pani.

Examples (6)

  1. Máš čas?

    Do you have time?

    Informal: the singular verb máš.

  2. Máte čas?

    Do you have time?

    Polite to one person, or asking several people: the plural verb máte.

  3. Pani Kováčová, kde bývate?

    Mrs Kováčová, where do you live?

    Polite vy: bývate is plural although you speak to one person.

  4. Môžeme si tykať?

    Shall we say ty to each other?

    Asking to switch from vy to ty.

  5. Sadnite si, prosím.

    Please sit down.

    The polite command ends in -te.

  6. Deti, kde ste?

    Children, where are you?

    Vy as the ordinary plural "you".

Common Mistakes

  • Using a ty verb with pán or pani.

    Pán Novák, máš čas?
    Pán Novák, máte čas?

    Addressing someone as pán or pani is polite, so the verb must be the plural vy form.

  • Using polite vy with a singular verb.

    Vy máš čas?
    Máte čas?

    Vy always takes the plural verb, even for one person.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Informal ty and Polite vyLevel 1

Learn This First

Before Informal ty and Polite vy, learn Subject Pronouns. ty and vy are subject pronouns.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

tykaťvykaťtykanie