the POLSKI blog

Since you’re already able to say ‘hi’ and ‘thank you’ in Polish, maybe you should try and introduce yourself, eh? (the audio files below may not work if you’re reading this in an RSS reader)

Nazywam się Will.

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‘My name’s Will’. The simplest way to introduce yourself in Polish. Actually, hang on, there is an even simpler one:

Jestem Will

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‘I’m Will’. That’ll do in most cases. Now, asking about somebody’s name is equally easy when there’s only one person whose name you want to know:

Jak masz na imię?

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‘What’s your name?’ In this case, you’ll get just this – their first name. If you want their surname say

Jak masz na nazwisko?

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‘What’s your surname?’ So the basic nouns here are:

imię – name (first name)
nazwisko – surname

There’s also another way of asking for someone’s name:

Jak się nazywasz?

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literally it means ‘what are you called?’ but the closest English equivalent would again be ‘What’s your name?’ In a more formal situation you’d expect the other person to tell you their first and second names in response to this question.

Now, it gets a bit trickier once you start asking about names in third person – so reffering to her, him or them. You’ll need the following pronouns:

on – he
ona – she
to – it
oni – they (all subjects are male or mixed)
one – they (female only)

So let’s try with ‘ona’ and the two versions of the question:

Jak (ona) ma na imię?

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Jak (ona) się nazywa?

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Please note, that the pronoun is optional, but it’s easier to use it and avoid sounding clumsy. So for example, your friend has just met someone and is telling you about her. Ask ‘Jak ona się nazywa?’. The same is you’re looking at somebody’s picture and want to know their name. The shorter version (without the pronoun) would be suitable for example if we’re not sure whether the speaker refers to a man or a woman.

Of course, subsitute ‘on’ or ‘to’ for ‘ona’ if you want to ask about ‘him’ or ‘it’.

In plural the reflexive verb (’nazywać się’) also gets a plural form, hence:

Jak (oni/one) się nazywają?

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I’ve included both versions of the pronoun to illustrate the pronunciation as the spelling might be confusing to an English speaker. But obviously use only one form at a time….

Previous tips:
‘Thank you’ and ‘please’ >>
Greetings >>

More ‘Polish your Polish’

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