The familiar singular form for addressing one person directly, used with friends, family, children, and other informal relationships.
Examples
Ty najlepiej znasz tę drogę.
You know this road best.
Czy ty też idziesz na spotkanie?
Are you going to the meeting too?
To ty zostawiłeś klucze na stole.
It was you who left the keys on the table.
Bez ciebie nie zaczniemy próby.
We will not start the rehearsal without you.
Powiem ci prawdę po obiedzie.
I will tell you the truth after lunch.
Myślałem dziś o tobie.
I was thinking about you today.
Idę z tobą do kina.
I am going to the cinema with you.
Similar words
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic ty, from Proto-Balto-Slavic tū, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European túh₂.
FAQ
What does ty mean in Polish?
ty is the familiar singular “you,” used when addressing one person directly in an informal or close relationship.
Is ty singular or plural?
ty is singular. The familiar plural form is wy.
Is ty formal?
ty is not formal. Polite singular address normally uses pan for a man and pani for a woman.
Why is ty sometimes left out of a Polish sentence?
Polish verb endings already show the person, so ty is often omitted unless it is emphasized or contrasted.
What verb form goes with ty?
ty takes the second-person singular form, as in ty jesteś, ty masz, and ty lubisz.
What are the main case forms of ty?
The main forms are ciebie or cię, tobie or ci, and tobą.
Can ty be capitalized?
Ty is often capitalized in letters and messages as a sign of respect, but the ordinary dictionary form is lower-case ty.
How is ty different from ja?
ty points to the person being addressed, while ja points to the speaker.
Comments & contributions
Know this word from another angle? Add a correction, a nuance, or a usage note. New posts go public after a quick review.
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Chilly Bee
Jul 6
As a Spanish speaker I kept looking for usted. pan/pani is basically that job, but the verb going third person felt very weird at first
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Patient Walrus
Jul 6
u nas w korpo wszyscy są na ty, ale u lekarza dalej bym nie ryzykowała
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Fancy Heron
Jul 5
Polish texting ruined my English for a while, I kept writing Love You with capital Y
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Cobalt Walrus
Jun 27
for you is dla ciebie, not dla ty. lost a week to that stupid mistake
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Contribution
Emerald Meerkat
Jun 22
When ty comes before a noun, the noun can jump into vocative. Ty idioto, ty leniu, ty kłamczuchu. Not every ty there is the plain subject pronoun, its more like you idiot or you lazybones.
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Coral Octopus
Jun 11
Capital Ty, Cię, Ciebie is for writing directly to somebody, like mail, cards, sometimes chat. In a novel dialogue you normally dont capitalize it, so Kocham cię in a book is not cold or rude.
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Marble Pheasant
Jun 7
The page mentions tykanie, but the useful phrase is przejść na ty. Old-school rule is that the older person or the boss offers it first, so a junior saying lets be on ty can feel pushy.
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Zesty Firefly
Jun 4
In shops this is changing a bit. Some cafes and apps talk to customers with ty now, especially young brand marketing, but I would still not open with ty to a random older person at a desk.
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Zany Ostrich
Jun 5
same, my bank app says możesz everywhere and my dad thinks it sounds rude lol
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Noble Warbler
Jun 4
The ci/tobie thing finally clicked for me when someone said its stress, not extra politeness. Pomogę ci is just normal. Tobie pomogę feels like you mean you, not the other guy.