Question Words
Question Words
Polish question words work much like their English counterparts, and there's a handy little word that flags a yes/no question before you've even finished the sentence.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
dlaczego Needs Its Own Answer Word
Dlaczego nie idziesz? Bo jestem zmęczony.
Why aren't you going? Because I'm tired.
Unlike languages that reuse a single word for both the question and the answer, Polish keeps them separate: dlaczego means only 'why', and bo (or the slightly more formal ponieważ) means only 'because'. You always need both words — you can't answer a dlaczego question by echoing dlaczego back.
czy Flags a Yes/No Question Upfront
Czy mówisz po polsku?
Do you speak Polish?
Placing czy at the very start of a sentence signals immediately that a yes/no answer is expected, without changing the word order that follows — Czy mówisz po polsku? is literally '[question marker] you-speak in-Polish?'. It's optional in casual speech (rising intonation alone can do the job, as in many other languages), but very common in writing and careful speech.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- who
- English
- what
- English
- where
- English
- when
- English
- why
- English
- how
- English
- how much / how many
- English
- which
- English
- Who is this?
- English
- Where do you live?
- English
- How much does it cost?
- English
- because