Welcome to Fun &Easy Polish by PolishPod101.com! |
Did you know that Polish verbs when used in the past tense have both a masculine and feminine form? |
Stay tuned to learn more! |
Cześć! Jestem Łukasz. |
Hi everyone! I’m Lukasz. |
And I’m Alisha |
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in Polish. |
Knowing how to introduce yourself in Polish will make it easier for you to make new friends and get to know your co-workers better. They’ll appreciate your effort to learn the language, even if you can’t speak it perfectly from the start. |
In this video, you'll learn how to greet others in Polish, how to introduce yourself, how to introduce others, and much more. |
Let’s start with the basic greetings. |
In Polish, there are two ways of speaking to another person. When you introduce yourself to strangers, older people, or your superiors at work, you do it in a formal way. When you introduce yourself to people your age, acquaintances, or friends, you do it in an informal way. |
Now let’s begin! |
"Hello" in Polish for informal introductions is |
Cześć! |
[SLOW] Cześć |
Cześć |
You can use this word when you want to say "hello'' or "goodbye." This is the perfect phrase to say before you introduce yourself in basic Polish. |
Next is, |
Siema! |
"Hey!" |
[SLOW] Siema! |
Siema! |
It’s the short form of: |
"Jak się masz?" |
"How are you?" |
[SLOW] Jak się masz? |
Jak się masz? |
This is a popular way of saying "hey!," but it’s mostly used by young people. |
It can be used when you meet someone but also as a way to say goodbye! |
Now for formal introductions. One way to say "hello" formally is |
Dzień dobry. |
"Good morning" or "Good afternoon" |
[SLOW] Dzień dobry |
Dzień dobry |
Use this when you want to formally greet someone during the day. |
Another formal greeting is |
Dobry wieczór |
"Good evening" |
[SLOW] Dobry wieczór |
Dobry wieczór |
Dzień dobry is replaced with Dobry wieczór when you meet someone in the evening. |
Another common way of greeting people is with a handshake or a kiss. Men often use a handshake, whereas female friends are often giving or receiving a kiss on the cheek. |
Next let’s see how to introduce yourself in Polish. |
Make sure you include your name, country of origin, and place of residence when introducing yourself. |
Let’s first learn how to say "My name is" in Polish. |
To do this, please note that there are two forms of address in Polish. |
For informal questions, we use the verb form in the second-person singular. |
For example: |
Masz |
"You have" |
[SLOW] Masz |
Masz |
For formal questions, we use the verb form in the third-person singular, together with Pan/Pani, which we’ll talk about later on. |
Here’s an example conversation in an informal setting: |
Cześć! Jak masz na imię? |
"Hello! What’s your name?" |
[SLOW] Cześć! Jak masz na imię? |
Cześć! Jak masz na imię? |
Mam na imię Łukasz. A ty? |
"Hello! My name is Piotrek. What’s yours?" |
[SLOW] Mam na imię Łukasz. A ty? |
Mam na imię Łukasz. A ty? |
Mam na imię Małgosia. Miło mi cię poznać. |
"My name is Małgosia. Nice to meet you." |
[SLOW] Mam na imię Małgosia. Miło mi cię poznać. |
Mam na imię Małgosia. Miło mi cię poznać. |
After the woman has introduced herself you can politely respond with, |
Miło mi Panią poznać. |
"Nice to meet you, Ma’am." |
[SLOW] Miło mi Panią poznać. |
Miło mi Panią poznać. |
Pani is the title used when women are addressed by strangers and younger people. It literally translates to "woman," but it can also be used as "Mrs." |
The analogous title used for men is Pan. |
You may have noticed in the last example that the word differs from what we learned before. |
Strictly speaking, this is due to Polish case inflection—but don’t worry about this now as it will be covered in detail in a future lesson. |
For now you can memorize the sentence as a fixed expression that’s used when meeting women. |
Here’s an example of using Pan when addressing men: |
Dzień dobry. Jak ma Pan na imię? |
"Good day. What’s your name, Sir?" |
[SLOW] Dzień dobry. Jak ma Pan na imię? |
Dzień dobry. Jak ma Pan na imię? |
After the man has introduced himself you can politely respond with, |
Miło mi Pana poznać. |
"Nice to meet you, Sir." |
[SLOW] Miło mi Pana poznać. |
Miło mi Pana poznać. |
Next, let’s learn how to talk about your nationality in Polish. There are several possible questions that people may ask you. |
In informal situations, you may often hear the following questions: |
Skąd pochodzisz? |
Where do you come from? |
[SLOW] Skąd pochodzisz? |
Skąd pochodzisz? |
Pochodzę z Anglii. |
I come from England. |
[SLOW] Pochodzę z Anglii. |
Pochodzę z Anglii. |
Skąd jesteś? |
Where are you from? |
[SLOW] Skąd jesteś? |
Skąd jesteś? |
Jestem z Kanady. |
I am from Canada. |
[SLOW] Jestem z Kanady. |
Jestem z Kanady. |
Here’s how a conversation between two men may look like: |
Gdzie się urodziłeś? |
Where were you born? |
[SLOW] Gdzie się urodziłeś? |
Gdzie się urodziłeś? |
Urodziłem się w Polsce. |
I was born in Poland. |
[SLOW] Urodziłem się w Polsce. |
Urodziłem się w Polsce. |
For women, the same sentences would sound like this: |
Gdzie się urodziłaś? |
“Where were you born?” |
Urodziłam się w Polsce. |
“I was born in Poland.” |
Did you notice that the verb urodzić, like other Polish verbs in the past tense, has a male and female form? |
Here’s another example: |
Jakiej jesteś narodowości? |
What’s your nationality? |
[SLOW] Jakiej jesteś narodowości? |
Jakiej jesteś narodowości? |
An American man would reply: |
Jestem Amerykaninem. |
I’m American. |
[SLOW] Jestem Amerykaninem. |
Jestem Amerykaninem. |
An American woman would reply: |
Jestem Amerykanką. |
I’m American. |
[SLOW] Jestem Amerykanką. |
Jestem Amerykanką. |
Adjectives in Polish also have a gender. If you memorize both versions for every word, with practice, you’ll see that sometimes you can guess the other form of any new adjective that you encounter. |
For formal introductory conversations, you first need to remember that there are two different words that refer to women and men. |
Now let’s get to the examples: |
Skąd Pani pochodzi? |
"Where do you come from, Ma’am?" |
[SLOW] Skąd Pani pochodzi? |
Skąd Pani pochodzi? |
Skąd Pan jest? |
"Where are you from, Sir?" |
[SLOW] Skąd Pan jest? |
Skąd Pan jest? |
Jakiej jest Pan narodowości? |
"What’s your nationality Sir? |
[SLOW] Jakiej jest Pan narodowości? |
Jakiej jest Pan narodowości? |
Another way to introduce yourself is by letting someone know where you live. |
If someone asks you one of the following: |
Gdzie mieszkasz? |
"Where do you live?" |
[SLOW] Gdzie mieszkasz? |
Gdzie mieszkasz? |
Gdzie Pan mieszka? |
"Where do you live, Sir? |
[SLOW] Gdzie Pan mieszka? |
Gdzie Pan mieszka? |
Gdzie Pani mieszka? |
"Where do you live, Ma’am?" |
[SLOW] Gdzie Pani mieszka? |
Gdzie Pani mieszka? |
You can reply with something like: |
Mieszkam w Londynie. |
"I live in London." |
[SLOW] Mieszkam w Londynie. |
Mieszkam w Londynie. |
Mieszkam w Warszawie, na Ursynowie. |
"I live in Warsaw, in the district of Ursynów." |
[SLOW] Mieszkam w Warszawie, na Ursynowie. |
Mieszkam w Warszawie, na Ursynowie. |
Next you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in a work environment. |
If you’re working in a Polish-speaking environment, you’ll most likely be asked to say a few words about yourself in Polish. You can introduce yourself in this way: |
Witam wszystkich! Nazywam się Raul i pochodzę z Brazylii. Będę pracować tutaj jako programista. |
"Hello everyone! My name is Raul and I come from Brazil. I’m going to work here as a programmer." |
[SLOW] Witam wszystkich! Nazywam się Raul i pochodzę z Brazylii. Będę pracować tutaj jako programista. |
Witam wszystkich! Nazywam się Raul i pochodzę z Brazylii. Będę pracować tutaj jako programista. |
Since we now know how to introduce ourselves, we should have a look at how to introduce others. |
One way of doing this is by simply telling people each other’s names and gesturing in their direction. |
If you want to introduce a friend or a partner, you can also tell people a bit about your relationship. You can say something like: |
Monika, poznaj moją dziewczynę Agatę. |
"Monika, please meet my girlfriend, Agata." |
[SLOW] Monika, poznaj moją dziewczynę Agatę. |
Monika, poznaj moją dziewczynę Agatę. |
You may also want to do a full introduction, especially if you’re aware that the two people have something in common. |
For example, you can say: |
Maja, poznaj Marka. Marek, tak samo jak ty, uwielbia jazdę konną. |
"Maja, meet Marek. Marek, just like you, loves horse riding." |
[SLOW] Maja, poznaj Marka. Marek, tak samo jak ty, uwielbia jazdę konną. |
Maja, poznaj Marka. Marek, tak samo jak ty, uwielbia jazdę konną. |
Now if you’re at work, and you want to introduce someone to everyone else in the office, you can say something like the following: |
Czy mogę prosić wszystkich o uwagę? Chciałbym przedstawić wam Anję. Anja dołączy do naszego zespołu jako sekretarz spółki. Proszę, powitajmy ją serdecznie. |
"Can I have everyone’s attention? I’d like you to meet Anja. Anja is joining our team in the role of company secretary. Let’s welcome her warmly." |
[SLOW] Czy mogę prosić wszystkich o uwagę? Chciałbym przedstawić wam Anję. Anja dołączy do naszego zespołu jako sekretarz spółki. Proszę, powitajmy ją serdecznie. |
Czy mogę prosić wszystkich o uwagę? Chciałbym przedstawić wam Anję. Anja dołączy do naszego zespołu jako sekretarz spółki. Proszę, powitajmy ją serdecznie. |
In this lesson, you learned the formal and informal ways of saying "Hello" in Polish, you learned how to introduce yourself—including how to introduce yourself in a work environment, and lastly, you learned how to introduce others at work. |
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That’s it for today! See you next time! |
Do zobaczyska! |
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