Learn Hardcore Polish: Przepraszam, czy mógłby Pan podać sól i pieprz? - Excuse me, could you pass the salt and pepper, sir?

Here Przepraszam means Excuse me to get someone’s attention (e.g., a waiter or the person sitting by the condiments). It’s not an apology. If you wanted to express regret, Przepraszam can also do that, but context makes it clear this is an attention-getter.

What does czy do—do I need it?

Czy introduces a yes/no question. It’s optional in speech because Polish can mark yes/no questions with intonation alone:

With czy: Czy mógłby Pan podać…?
Without czy: Mógłby Pan podać…? (still perfectly natural) Using czy can sound a touch more formal/clear, especially after an opener like Przepraszam.

Why mógłby—what form is that and why use it?

Mógłby is the conditional of móc (can) and translates as could. Using the conditional softens the request and sounds polite, similar to English “Could you…?”. Structure: past stem + clitic by → mógł + by = mógłby.

How does Pan work—is it really “you”? Why is it capitalized?

Pan is the formal second-person pronoun for addressing a man (like “Sir/you”). Grammatically, Polish treats Pan/Pani like third person, which is why you see forms like mógłby Pan (literally “could Sir”). It’s commonly capitalized in writing (Pan, Pani, Państwo) as a sign of respect.

How do I change it for a woman or for more than one person?

To a woman: Czy mogłaby Pani podać…?
To a mixed/unspecified group (formal): Czy mogliby Państwo podać…?
To a group of women (formal): Czy mogłyby Panie podać…?
To a group of men (formal): Czy mogliby Panowie podać…? Note the stem changes: masculine singular uses mógł-, but plural and feminine forms use mogł-/mogl- (e.g., mogłaby, mogliby, mogłyby).

Why use podać instead of dać?

Both relate to giving, but:

podać (perfective) = hand/pass/serve a specific item, once. Ideal for “pass the salt.”
dać (perfective) = give (broader, can be more transactional). For this table context, podać is the idiomatic choice.

What case are sól and pieprz in, and why don’t they change form?

They’re in the accusative as direct objects of podać. For feminine nouns like sól and masculine inanimate nouns like pieprz, the accusative singular equals the nominative, so they appear unchanged: sól, pieprz.

Can/should I add “to me” (mi)? Where does it go?

You can add the dative pronoun mi to make the recipient explicit:

Czy mógłby Pan podać mi sól i pieprz? Placement: typically right after the verb. More emphatic forms use mnie, but in requests mi is standard.

Is the word order fixed?

It’s flexible. Common variants:

Czy mógłby Pan podać…? (very typical)
Czy Pan mógłby podać…? (equally fine)
Without czy: Mógłby Pan podać…? All are natural. Keep related parts together (e.g., keep mi close to the verb).

Could I drop Przepraszam?

Yes. Przepraszam is just an attention-getter. Once you have someone’s attention, you can go straight to Czy mógłby Pan…? or even just Poproszę sól i pieprz.

How would I say this informally to a friend?

Polite-informal: Podasz mi sól i pieprz? or Dasz mi sól i pieprz?
Imperative (very direct, only with close people): Podaj mi sól i pieprz. Avoid Pan/Pani with friends; use ty-forms.

Are there articles missing (the/some)?

Polish has no articles. Sól i pieprz can mean “the salt and (the) pepper,” “some salt and pepper,” etc. Context supplies definiteness.

Why the comma after Przepraszam, and no comma after czy?

Przepraszam is an interjection, so it’s set off by a comma. Czy is a question particle and does not take a comma after it in this structure: Przepraszam, czy mógłby…?

Pronunciation tips for the tricky bits?

Przepraszam: psheh-PRAH-sham (stress on PRA). rz = zh (as in vision), sz = sh.
czy: chih (like “ch” in “church” + short i-like vowel).
mógłby: roughly MOOG-w-bih; in fast speech many Poles simplify to something like “MOOB-y.”
Pan: pahn.
podać: PO-dach (soft “ć” like the ch in “cheek,” but softer).
sól: sool (ó = oo).
pieprz: PYEPSH (final rz devoices to sh).

Could I say może Pan instead of mógłby Pan?

You can: Czy może Pan podać…? means “Can you…?” It’s polite, but mógłby Pan (“Could you…?”) is a notch softer/more deferential. Both are common.

Any even shorter, very standard polite alternatives?

Poproszę sól i pieprz. (Literally “I’d like/Please [give me] salt and pepper.” Very common and polite.)
Czy mogę prosić o sól i pieprz? (Can I ask for salt and pepper?)
Impersonal: Czy można prosić o sól i pieprz? (Is it possible to ask for…? Neutral when you want to avoid gendered Pan/Pani.)