# Addressing people in Polish.



## LilianaB

How do they address people in Polish these days? I have noticed that a lot of the younger generation address people in the informal way, without Pan, Pani. Is it common in Poland? Is is acceptable. It sounds terrible to me, but maybe it is the new trend.


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## apex39

There still is whole formality, only people who want to show their ignorance do not use Pan, Pani when they contact with older person. It's rather unacceptable.


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## LilianaB

Why do they use the informal way of addressing people on the internet? I thought it could have been a new trend.


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## apex39

On the internet chats, comments, forums - places where formality is not necessary and it is not obvious that you are in formal situation, we rather do not use formal style.


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## BezierCurve

> There still is whole formality, only people who want to show their ignorance do not use Pan, Pani when they contact with older person. It's rather unacceptable.



Also, it is slowly changing in Polish communities abroad (at least across English speaking countries). Some people feel quite happy being addressed as "ty" by their younger friends. In some situations "pan" and "pani" here seem to create unnecessary space between people. But there's no rule to it yet.


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## BezierCurve

> There still is whole formality, only people who want to show their ignorance do not use Pan, Pani when they contact with older person. It's rather unacceptable.



It is slowly changing in Polish communities abroad (at least across English speaking countries). Some people feel quite happy being addressed as "ty" by their younger friends. In some situations "pan" and "pani" here seem to create unnecessary space between people. But there's no rule to it yet.


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## apex39

BezierCurve said:


> It is slowly changing in Polish communities abroad (at least across English speaking countries). Some people feel quite happy being addressed as "ty" by their younger friends. In some situations "pan" and "pani" here seem to create unnecessary space between people. But there's no rule to it yet.



Some people want to be addressed as such, because they feel much younger when they are called in that informal way


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## LilianaB

I think Pan, Pani are among the major features which make Polish beautiful. Without them it would become a commonplace language.


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## BezierCurve

On the other hand a direct communication seems to be something we have too often problems to deal with.


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## majlo

I dislike the Pan/Pani form a great deal and avoid it whenever possible.

Though, objectively, it's undoubtedly still present in Polish.


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## Roy776

Although I'm not a native speaker, the Pan/Pani form seems highly indirect and distancing for me. It's the same with Portuguese "O Senhor/A Senhora". Instead of directly using Ty or Wy (I mention Wy, because this is the pronoun used, for example, in Czech) for addressing, one goes around that and searches another way. Of course it also shows respect to the person addressed, but to me it show more distance than respect. The same is the case with German "Sie", at least for me. I never insist on it. Never. Neither would I ever insist on Pan in Polish. The third person is used to talk about other persons, present or not present. The second person is used to address persons directly, therefore the plural Wy seems just more logical if you want to show respect.

But that's just my humble opinion.

And a little bit more on topic:
The Polish speakers here in Germany (from my experience) seem to hardly ever use Pan/Pani. I once asked a friend of mine when he'd use it while he's in Poland, and his answer was that he almost never uses it, unless he's talking to a seemingly old person.


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## Piotr_WRF

The problem with second plural _Wy _in Polish is that it strongly reminds me of socialism and the communist party, as in _Towarzyszu, widzieliście?_ I'd rather use _Pan_/_Pani_ and have no problem with it that it's third person. It's really just a matter of the language in question if second person or third person is used to address a person formally.


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## LilianaB

To a person used to it, and sensitive to the specific charm of the Polish language and Polish literature, anything without those forms, sounds rude, unless of course you are very close to the people addressing you without those forms. I am talking about myself, so other people may have other experience. As to the _wy_, I do not like it at all. It is not literary  Polish; it could be present in some dialects of Polish. I understand that it could be hard for a very young person to make friends or start any relationships using the word Pan/Pani because it creates a distance. However, i think that they or anybody else should not refer to people who are used to it without it, I mean people who are even in their 40s, not necessarily very old.


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## apex39

In my surroundings, I don't imagine not using Pan/Pani in the shop or in school referring to a teacher. And calling twenty-two-years-old male/female shop assistant "Proszę Pana"/"Proszę Pani" does not make any inconvenience for me, and for my friends at my age of 18.


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## oblivion_a

For me using Pan/Pani is also very natural, unless I talk with a person  in my age (I'm in my twenties). That's because I've just finished my  studies and among students informal way of addressing is much more  popular. But I can't imagin using second person while talking to elder  people, for example at work, without their permission. 
By the way, I  suppose all that is a nice way of expressing how close you are with a  person (although sometimes very troublesome;-)) If you wat to be less  formal you can use "Pan/Pani + name" form. It's a kind of expression  which combines respect with familiarity. For example most of my  professors were using this form while addressing to me. It's also a good  solution for young people who feel strange using "ty" form according to  elder people who wants them to do so.
What is generaly no longer  used in Poland is addressing elder people from the family using third  person. Older generation used to speak for example "Czy mama wie...?"  while addressing to their mothers. That should express respect, but in  my opinion only shows distance. I've never used it, but my father does.


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