Learn Hardcore Polish: Czy możesz pożyczyć mi parasol, gdy będziemy czekać przed ratuszem? - Can you lend me an umbrella while we wait in front of the town hall?

czy is a particle used to introduce a yes/no question in Polish. It must be placed at the start of the sentence. In informal speech, you can often drop czy and rely on intonation alone to signal a question (e.g., Możesz mi pożyczyć parasol…?), but including czy makes the question explicit.

Why is the pronoun mi used here, and what case is it?

mi is the short form of the first-person singular dative pronoun (to me). It indicates the recipient of the action (i.e., who is receiving the umbrella). The full form, mnie, is used in other cases (accusative or after certain prepositions), but here you need the dative.

What is the difference between pożyczyć and pożyczać?

These are two aspects of the same verb:

pożyczyć is perfective, used for a single, completed action ("to lend/borrow once").
pożyczać is imperfective, used for ongoing or repeated actions.
In a request like this one, you normally use the perfective (pożyczyć) because you’re asking for the act of lending right now.

Why do we say gdy instead of kiedy before będziemy czekać?

Both gdy and kiedy can mean “when,” but:

gdy is more common in formal or written Polish for linking clauses in the past or future.
kiedy is often used in direct questions (“When are we meeting?” = Kiedy się spotykamy?).
Here, gdy introduces a subordinate temporal clause: “when we will be waiting.”

What does będziemy czekać mean, and how is it formed?

będziemy czekać is the future progressive (“we will be waiting”). It’s formed with:

The future tense of być – będziemy (we will be).
The infinitive czekać (to wait).
Use this construction to emphasize an ongoing action in the future.

What case follows the preposition przed, and why is ratuszem in that case?

przed (“in front of”) requires the instrumental case in Polish. That’s why ratusz (town hall) changes to ratuszem (instrumental singular). It indicates location.

Can we change the word order, for example placing parasol before mi or moving gdy?

Polish has relatively free word order, but some patterns are more natural:

Clitics like mi (short dative pronoun) usually precede the main verb.
pożyczyć mi parasol is standard. If you swap to pożyczyć parasol mi, it sounds odd or overly emphatic.
gdy będziemy czekać przed ratuszem is a fixed temporal clause; moving gdy would break the subordinate clause structure.

Is it possible to ask this question in another way, for example using the imperative or different tenses?

Yes. You could say:

Pożyczysz mi parasol, gdy będziemy czekać przed ratuszem? – using future tense pożyczysz for the question.
Pożycz mi parasol, gdy będziemy czekać przed ratuszem. – using the imperative pożycz, more direct.
Możesz mi pożyczyć parasol, jak będziemy czekać przed ratuszem? – swapping gdy for the more colloquial jak.