# cię vs ciebie



## LeTasmanien

The accusative and genitive of 'ty'.

Widzę cię.
Czekam na ciebie.

Are these two pronouns entirely interchangable or are there times when one should be used in preference to the other?


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## jasio

First of all, they are unaccented and accented forms of the pronoun, both in Genitive and Accusative (for this particular pronoun they look the same in both cases), rather than distinct cases. The distinction also exists in Dative ("ci" vs. "tobie"), but not in Locative and Instrumental (tobie, tobą). And, of course, it does not exist in Nominative.

In general, the accented and unaccented pronouns are NOT mutually interchangeable, although the rules may be quite complex (as a native, not linguist, I cannot enumerate them, as I use them instinctively). Besides, blindly following the rules may lead to mistakes. For example, in general, right after the verb, unaccented form should be used:


> Widzę cię.


However, unaccented forms must not be used whenever a logical or propositional accent is needed, when an accented form is used instead:


> Widzę ciebie, a nie jego.


Also the first and the last word in a sentence or a position after an unaccented preposition typically require some form of an accent, so accented forms are used:


> Tobie się to nie podoba?
> Nie podoba Ci się to?
> Mówię do Ciebie.


I googled a few pages for you, which may be helpful:

ciebie czy cię? - Poradnia językowa PWN

zaimki osobowe - WIEM, darmowa encyklopedia
zaimki akcentowane i nieakcentowane - Poradnia językowa PWN
„Mi” czy „mnie”?


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## jasio

malitopl said:


> Cię is the simillar to Ciebię


There is no such word as "*Ciebię". There is only "Ciebie" (without nasality). In practice though "cię" is also pronounced with very reduced nasality or without nasality at all.


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## jasio

jasio said:


> However, unaccented forms must not be used whenever a logical or propositional accent is needed, when an accented form is used instead


As an afterthought, please do compare two phrases: 


> Co cię interesuje?
> Co *ciebie* interesuje?


The first one may be accented on "Co" or on "interesuje" - which places the focus on your interests. The second must be accented on "ciebie", so the focus is automatically on "YOU".

Also, please compare typical phrases:


> I prepared it *for* you.
> Przygotowałem to dla *ciebie.*


As far as I can remember, in English I have only heard the version with an accent on "for" in a typical office chit-chat, although in specific situations personal pronoun ("you") could be accented as well. In Polish only the presented form is correct, since the preposition is not accented (at least not in this construction). If you want to avoid underlining the addressee of the activity, you simply omit the whole ending  ("przygotowałem to").


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## LeTasmanien

Thanks very much for taking the time to give this detailed introduction to "cię vs ciebie".
I think that the points you make about accent (or emphasis) in the sentence are critical and I was not aware of this.
And also this seems important...


jasio said:


> Also the first and the last word in a sentence or a position after an unaccented preposition typically require some form of an accent, so accented forms are used:



Though I didn't understand how it applies in one of your examples ...


jasio said:


> Nie podoba Ci się to?



Here too what is the significance of of capitalising the 'C' in this case and others? Just another way to accent the pronoun?
Also would the nominative of the pronoun under discussion not be simply 'ty'?


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## Karton Realista

LeTasmanien said:


> Here too what is the significance of of capitalising the 'C' in this case and others? Just another way to accent the pronoun?


To show respect to the person you're writing to/with.


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## jasio

LeTasmanien said:


> Though I didn't understand how it applies in one of your examples ...


The second example actually demonstrates how to express more or less the same idea using accented and unaccented pronoun. I'm sorry for a confusion. Probably I should have written:


> "_*Tobie się to nie podoba?*"_ vs. _"_*Nie podoba Ci się to?*"


"More or less" - as using the accented pronoun actually shifts the emphasis from the disliked idea to the person - so it implies something like "you have always liked it", "you have always did it this way yourself" or something similar. But I wanted to demonstrate a difference in the sentence constructions between the two. 



LeTasmanien said:


> Here too what is the significance of of capitalising the 'C' in this case and others? Just another way to accent the pronoun?


As Karton Realista explained:


Karton Realista said:


> To show respect to the person you're writing to/with.


Capitalisation is (should be) used in writing, when you address someone directly and want to do it politely. If you just quote a spoken phrase it's unnecessary. There is no difference in pronunciation or accenting. 



LeTasmanien said:


> Also would the nominative of the pronoun under discussion not be simply 'ty'?


It would. 
In Nominative case there are no accented and unaccented forms, they exist only in some of the dependent cases. On one hand, subject (probably the only opportunity to use Nominative case) in a sense is *always* emphasised. On the other - because of inflection, constructions with default subjects are used in place of personal pronouns most of the cases.


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## tom877

Their meaning is the same. 
I am looking at you - patrzę na CIebie


it depends on the case: 
Who (who I see, who I meet)? what(I see?)? - Ciebie


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## LeTasmanien

jasio said:


> The second example actually demonstrates how to express more or less the same idea using accented and unaccented pronoun. I'm sorry for a confusion. Probably I should have written:
> 
> "More or less" - as using the accented pronoun actually shifts the emphasis from the disliked idea to the person - so it implies something like "you have always liked it", "you have always did it this way yourself" or something similar. But I wanted to demonstrate a difference in the sentence constructions between the two.
> 
> 
> As Karton Realista explained:
> 
> Capitalisation is (should be) used in writing, when you address someone directly and want to do it politely. If you just quote a spoken phrase it's unnecessary. There is no difference in pronunciation or accenting.
> 
> 
> It would.
> In Nominative case there are no accented and unaccented forms, they exist only in some of the dependent cases. On one hand, subject (probably the only opportunity to use Nominative case) in a sense is *always* emphasised. On the other - because of inflection, constructions with default subjects are used in place of personal pronouns most of the cases.



Thanks very much jasio (and KR).
It's all crystal clear now.


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## kknd

as far as i remember and as a sidenote: you can find in older polish prose phrases like _czekam na cię_. but i'm not sure why it was acceptable then and seems to be unacceptable today (sometimes, but seldom, this is used in poems, of course more then than now).


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