Greetings are essential part in our everyday life no matter where we live, what we do, who we are or what culture we belong to. We cannot imagine a single day without greeting somebody.<\/p>\n
There are lots of different kinds of greetings which are used in various situations depending on how well we know a particular person, on time of the day or circumstances of the meeting. The words said when greeting people can express respect or be just a normal polite expression. Very often, they show joy because of the meeting or even are a spoken joke.<\/p>\n
I would like to present some of the most important and common Polish expressions used to greet people.<\/p>\n
Dzie\u0144 dobry<\/strong> is a general official form of greeting people (people that we know, we do not know and older people). We use it no matter whether it is morning ( Good morning) or afternoon ( Good afternoon).<\/p>\n Dobry wiecz\u00f3<\/strong>r (Good evening) is similar to Dzie\u0144 dobry, but it is used in the evening.<\/p>\n Dobranoc<\/strong> ( Good night) is said when people leave each other in the evening or before going to bed.<\/p>\n Do widzenia!<\/strong> ( Goodbye) is used when someone leaves or is left.<\/p>\n Cze\u015b\u0107!<\/strong> ( Hi!, Hello!, Bye!) is an informal expression we use both when we want to greet our friends, relatives, children and people we know well and when we want to say goodbye.<\/p>\n Witam!<\/strong> is quite similar to Cze\u015b\u0107! but a little bit less emotional.<\/p>\n Czo\u0142em!<\/strong> is again close to Cze\u015b\u0107! It is used usually by young people between each other<\/p>\n Jak si\u0119 masz? <\/strong>(how are you?)<\/strong>, Jak si\u0119 miewasz?<\/strong> (how do you do?), Co u Ciebie s\u0142ycha\u0107?<\/strong> (what is going on with you?) or Co s\u0142ycha\u0107! (how is everything?) are greetings which express interest in mood and health condition of the person we have met.<\/p>\n Polish language has also got a few more informal ways of greeting. Here they are:<\/p>\n Graba!, Grabula!, Witka!, Strza\u0142a! or Strza\u0142eczka!<\/strong> are mostly used by men and they are more like a slang that you can’t find in the dictionary. It encourages to offer one\u2019s hand and is connected with the gesture of shaking hands (used by people who know each other very well).<\/p>\n Pi\u0105tka!<\/strong> High five! – used between people who know each other, especially younger people<\/p>\n Kop\u0119 lat<\/strong>! meaning: I haven\u2019t seen you for ages! It emphasizes the fact that a lot of time has passed since the last meeting.<\/p>\n Sie masz<\/strong>! or Sie ma!<\/strong> is a shortened version of Jak si\u0119 masz! (How do you do?) which has become characteristic among teenagers.<\/p>\n Szcz\u0119\u015b\u0107 Bo\u017ce!<\/strong> ( God bless!) is a greeting sometimes used by Catholics.<\/p>\n Similar in meaning is: Niech b\u0119dzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus<\/strong>! or just Pochwalony!<\/strong> ( Praised be Jesus Christ!). As a reply to this greeting we say: Na wieki wiek\u00f3w, amen<\/strong>! (usually used in the church).<\/p>\n These gestures are sometimes used as a greeting:<\/p>\n – Shaking hands,<\/p>\n – Taking off one\u2019s headgear for a moment,<\/p>\n – Raising one\u2019s open hand up,<\/p>\n – Nodding one\u2019s head,<\/p>\n – Giving somebody five,<\/p>\n – Smile,<\/p>\n – Kissing somebody\u2019s hand (a man kisses a woman\u2019s hand),<\/p>\n – Kissing one\u2019s cheeks (in Poland usually 3 times)<\/p>\n Hopefully this gave you a little picture of how people greet each other in Poland.<\/p>\n Do nast<\/strong>\u0119pnego razu… <\/strong>(Till next time…)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greetings are essential part in our everyday life no matter where we live, what we do, who we are or what culture we belong to. We cannot imagine a single day without greeting somebody. There are lots of different kinds of greetings which are used in various situations depending on how well we know a…<\/p>\n