Czy jest pan or czy pan jest?

Im getting these mixed up a lot!
Could someone please explain the difference and when I should use them
Thanks :)

"czy jest pan pijany"? - "are you drunk, sir"?
more emphasis on "jest" - are YOU drunk, sir?

"czy pan jest pijany"?- "sir, are you drunk"?
more empahsish on "pan" - " SIR, are you drunk?"

So neither is wrong then?

Also If I removed pan or pani would it still make sense,surely they only apply to talking to adults?

you can only remove the "pan" or "pani" if you know the person or if it's a child

would make some sense but completely different to the one before chucking the Pan/i out

children are addressed to directly - meaning in second person and not third

word order is much more flexible in Polish than in English. Often the order is changed to give emphasis in a different place as Krysia has said.


just to be clear - you are not "removing" the Pan/Pani - i.e. you can't say "czy jest pijany" instead of "czy Pan jest pijany", but you can use the 2nd person instead of the 3rd person plus Pan/Pani construction to give "jesteś pijany" as gumishu mentions.

The 2nd person form of address is for people you know, children, animals or talking to God. [Although being a total atheist I haven't tested the God bit :-) ]

benszymanski
but is "jesteś pijany" not "you're drunk"?
Which is more of a statement than a question,or is it meant to be said in the style of a question?

yes you are correct - jesteś pijany = you're drunk

apologies - I didn't bother typing the "czy" which would have made it clearer.

It can be both a statement or a question depending on what "voice-melody" you use. Normally such a question should be with czy. Czy jesteś pijany? But it's common that people skip czy and use more melody to express that it's a question.

In English word order is very important to express who is the subject and who is the object. In Polish this is much more often determined by endings.


Or are you drunk? Just go out on the streets and listen how often people skip czy, and use more melody instead.

yes that's right. It's normally called voice "intonation". I didn't want to over complicate the original question though....

Ah I undersand that :)
So would "jesteś pijany" or "czy jesteś pijany" be more suitable to use with friends as opposed to adults or strangers?

Yes - as metioned above - generally people you know, children, animals or talking to God. People you are on first name terms with.

Why? They are both equally correct.

Ok, listen. To make it easy for you:

1. If you have a statement (not a question) never use 'czy'.
2. If you have a yes or no-question, always begin with 'czy'.

If you follow these 2 simple rules it will be correct, and you don't have to involve formal/informal considerations.
There are other possible options as well, but don't make it more difficult than it is.


Yes, that was the noun I was looking for.