The Focus of this Lesson is Basic Introduction Phrases
Nazywam się Katarzyna Kowalczyk. A pan?
"My name is Katarzyna Kowalczyk. And yours, sir?"

Introducing Yourself Using nazywać się

The verb nazywać się, meaning "to be called" is used to introduce yourself in Polish. It's usually used in official settings, however, that's not the only time you would use this phrase. Something to remember is that when you use nazywać się you should give both your first and last name or last name only; just like Felipe did in the dialogue. Let's have a look at a few examples and the conjugation of the verb.

1. Nazywam się Nowak.
   "My name is Nowak."
2. Nazywam się Robert Kowalski.
   "My name is Robert Kowalski"

* The verb nazywać can also occur without się, but then the meaning changes into "to name," for example, Gosia nazwała swojego psa Lolek ("Gosia named her dog Lolek").

Singular Form

Plural Form

Talking About Yourself Using być Followed by the Genitive

1. Using Jestem z followed by the genitive case
   "I am from..."

In the dialogue of this lesson you heard the question skąd pan jest? ("where are you from, sir?"), and the more casual version of the same question, without the word pan ("sir"), skąd jesteś? meaning "where are you from?" Please note that in Polish we rarely use pronouns like ja ("I"), ty ("you") or my ("we"), because the form of the verb expresses the pronoun. That's why we won't say skąd ty jesteś?, we will just say skąd jesteś?

To answer the question you need to use the verb być which means "to be" in English, followed by the preposition z ("from") and name of the country you come from in the genitive case. Let's have a look at a few examples.

1. A: Skąd jesteś?
   "Where are you from?"
   B: Jestem z Australii.
   "I'm from Australia"
2. A: Skąd pan jest?
   "Where are you from, sir?"
   B: Jestem z Holandii.
   "I'm from Holland."
3. A: Skąd pani jest?
   "Where are you from, ma'am?"
   B: Jestem z Francji.
   "I'm from France."

In the table below, we have the names of countries in their dictionary form as well as English translations. And on the right, there are forms that have to be used whenever we use the preposition z, which means "from" in English. In Polish, the forms are a little bit different, so please pay attention to the endings.

Examples from the dialogue:

1. Nazywam się Felipe Rossi.
   "My name is Felipe Rossi."
2. Jestem z Brazylii.
   "I'm from Brazil."

Sample Sentences

1. Nazywamy się Kowalscy.
   "Our name is Kowalski."
2. On nazywa się Smith i jest ze Stanów Zjednoczonych.
   "His name is Smith and he's from the United States."

Może pani powtórzyć? "Can you repeat that, ma'am?"

Może is conjugated form of the infinitive verb móc, and means "can, to be able to," and here it's in the third person singular. The next word in the phrase is pani, meaning "ma'am" (or, in other kind of sentences, "Ms"). The last word is powtórzyć meaning "to repeat."

Its literal meaning is "Can you repeat, ma'am?"

We use this phrase when we want a woman we're talking with to repeat what she has just said. If we're talking to a man, then we need to replace the word pani ("ma'am," "Ms") with pan ("sir," "Mr"). That's how the sentence will look like: Może pan powtórzyć?

We use this sentence in a formal situation, like when we're talking to a stranger or a person we are not close enough to to address by first name. In more casual settings it's a better idea to use Możesz powtórzyć? It literally means "Can you repeat?"

For example:

1. Przepraszam, nie usłyszałem. Może pani powtórzyć?
   "I'm sorry, I didn't hear. Can you repeat, ma'am?"

poznać "to meet"

The Polish verb poznać translates into English as "to meet," however, it can be used only when we talk about meeting someone for the first time. It's similar to the English "to get to know someone."

It's commonly used in the phrase miło mi pana poznać, which was used in the dialogue. It means "it's nice to meet you, sir." Of course if we're speaking to a lady, we change pana into panią. If we're talking to a young person, we can skip pan and pani and say miło mi cię poznać, literally "nice to meet you."

For example:

1. Miło mi cię poznać.
   "Nice to meet you."

A pan? "And you, sir?"

A pan? literally translates into "And you, sir?" Again, it's reserved for formal situations, because we're addressing the man we're talking to with pan. Just as before we can replace that word with pani if we're speaking to a woman. The third option is the casual A ty?, equivalent to the English "And you?"

We use this kind of question when we give some information and we want the person we're speaking to to give us the same, just like Kasia in the dialogue. First she gave her name and then said a pan? instead of saying A jak się pan nazywa?, which would be repeating basically the same sentence. Let's have a look at another example. You could say Mieszkam w Polsce. Gdzie mieszkasz? meaning "I live in Poland. Where do you live?," but it sounds boring and is a bit long. A better way to say it is Mieszkam w Polsce. A ty?, meaning "I live in Poland. And you?"

For example:

1. Studiuję historię. A ty?
   "I'm studying history. And you?"

Meeting Someone in Poland for the First Time—Dos and Don'ts

First of all, when we meet someone for the first time we have to introduce ourselves, at the same time extending our hand for a handshake. You can start with witam, literally meaning "welcome" but commonly used as a greeting, just like the English "hello." You can use other greetings like Cześć ("Hi"), Dzień dobry ("Good morning"), or Dobry wieczór ("Good evening"), depending on the time of the day and the formality level. After that you should give your name, and to do that there are a few options. For example, with our character from the dialogue, he might say:

• Felipe or Felipe Rossi (yes, you can say ONLY your name; using your full name in more formal situations)
• Jestem Felipe. ("I'm Felipe.")
• Mam na imię Felipe. ("My name is Felipe.")
• Nazywam się Felipe Rossi ("My name is Felipe Rossi.")

It's very important to remember the handshake, which is done by both men and women, in both casual and formal settings. Make sure your grip is firm and confident. Poles often get a slightly negative impression of someone if their grip is soft, or non-existent.