Questions
Forming questions in Polish
I can form yes/no and wh-questions correctly
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Czy mówisz po polsku?
Do you speak Polish?
Co robisz?
What are you doing?
Gdzie mieszkasz?
Where do you live?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Pytania — Questions
Polish has two question types: yes/no (with czy) and wh-questions (with question words).
| Type | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Yes/No | Czy | Czy mówisz po polsku? |
| What | Co | Co robisz? |
| Who | Kto | Kto to jest? |
| Where | Gdzie | Gdzie mieszkasz? |
| When | Kiedy | Kiedy przyjdziesz? |
| How | Jak | Jak się masz? |
| Why | Dlaczego | Dlaczego nie jesz? |
Word order is flexible — Czy can be omitted in speech (rising intonation marks the question). Kto always takes 3rd person singular verb.
Learners omit czy in formal contexts or incorrectly combine it with wh-words.
Czy mówisz po polsku?
Do you speak Polish?
Czy starts yes/no questions. Czy mówisz po polsku?
Co robisz?
What are you doing?
Co (what) starts wh-questions. No inversion needed.
Gdzie mieszkasz?
Where do you live?
Gdzie (where) — the word order after question words is flexible.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises