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Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić jutro, że wejście będzie otwarte?

Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić jutro, że wejście będzie otwarte?
Could you please confirm tomorrow that the entrance will be open?
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Questions & Answers about Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić jutro, że wejście będzie otwarte?

What does Pani mean here, and why is it capitalized?
  • Pani is the polite/formal way to say “you” to an adult woman (roughly “Ma’am”/“Ms.” as a pronoun).
  • The capital letter shows respect in direct address, especially in emails/letters. In neutral prose you may see lowercase, but capital is standard in correspondence.
  • Counterparts:
    • To a man: Pan
    • To a mixed group or unknown composition: Państwo
    • To a group of women: Panie
    • To a group of men: Panowie
Why is it mogłaby and not mógłby? What form is this?
  • mogłaby is the conditional of móc (“could”) in 3rd person singular feminine.
  • With the formal pronoun Pani, Polish uses 3rd person verb forms that agree in feminine gender, hence mogłaby.
  • If addressing a man: mógłby Pan. For groups: mogliby Państwo (mixed/men), mogłyby Panie (women).
  • Spelling tip: feminine forms use o (mo-), masculine singular uses ó: mógłby vs mogłaby.
Is Czy necessary at the beginning?
  • Czy introduces a yes/no question, but it’s optional in speech. You can say:
    • With czy (more neutral/formal): Czy mogłaby Pani…?
    • Without czy: Mogłaby Pani…?
  • Without czy, intonation carries the question; both are correct.
Why is there a comma before że?
  • In Polish, you put a comma before że whenever it introduces a subordinate clause. The comma in …, że wejście będzie otwarte is mandatory.
  • The same applies to czy when it means “whether” inside a clause: …, czy wejście będzie otwarte also takes a comma.
Should it be że or czy after potwierdzić?
  • że = “that,” asserting content: you want confirmation of a statement.
    • Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić jutro, że wejście będzie otwarte? = “confirm that it will be open.”
  • czy = “whether,” asking for a yes/no outcome:
    • Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić jutro, czy wejście będzie otwarte? = “confirm whether it will be open.”
Why is the perfective potwierdzić used instead of potwierdzać?
  • potwierdzić (perfective) = one complete act of confirming; that’s what you want here.
  • potwierdzać (imperfective) = ongoing/repeated process; you’d use it for habitual or in-progress actions.
  • With móc, both aspects are possible, but the aspect you choose signals that one-time vs ongoing nuance.
Where can jutro go, and does the position change the meaning?
  • To say the confirming happens tomorrow:
    • Czy mogłaby Pani jutro potwierdzić, że…
    • Czy jutro mogłaby Pani potwierdzić, że…
    • Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić jutro, że… (your version)
  • To say the opening is tomorrow (not necessarily the confirmation):
    • Czy mogłaby Pani potwierdzić, że jutro wejście będzie otwarte?
Why is it otwarte and not otwarta or otwarty?
  • wejście is neuter singular, so the predicate adjective must be neuter singular: otwarte.
  • Compare:
    • brama (fem.) → brama będzie otwarta
    • sklep (masc.) → sklep będzie otwarty
    • drzwi (plural) → drzwi będą otwarte
What does wejście refer to? Could I use drzwi instead?
  • wejście = the entrance (the passage/entryway), often about access being allowed.
  • drzwi = the door leaves; plural-only noun.
  • Use depending on focus:
    • wejście będzie otwarte = the entrance will be open/accessible.
    • drzwi będą otwarte = the door(s) will be open.
Can I say otworzone instead of otwarte?
  • For the state “open,” use otwarte. That’s the idiomatic choice with wejście/drzwi.
  • otworzone is a participial form (“opened”) and tends to sound technical or event-focused; OK in sentences like Drzwi zostały otworzone (“The doors were opened”), but for the resulting state prefer Drzwi są otwarte.
Why is potwierdzić in the infinitive?
  • After the modal verb móc (“can/could”), Polish uses the infinitive for the main action: mogłaby … potwierdzić.
  • The finite verb here is mogłaby; potwierdzić is the action you’re asking for.
Is there a more or less direct way to phrase this politely?
  • Slightly more direct but still polite: Czy może Pani jutro potwierdzić, że…
  • Polite imperative: Proszę jutro potwierdzić, że…
  • Very formal/softened: Byłabym wdzięczna, gdyby mogła Pani jutro potwierdzić, czy…
Can the by particle be moved? Is “mogła by Pani” correct?
  • by is an enclitic. Correct placements include:
    • Czy mogłaby Pani…
    • Czy by Pani mogła…
  • Writing it as two separate words after the verb (mogła by) is incorrect in this structure. It’s either attached (mogłaby) or placed earlier (by Pani mogła).
Any spelling/diacritics pitfalls here?
  • mogłaby (feminine) has o and ł; masculine is mógłby with ó.
  • że uses ż, not “ze.”
  • wejście has ś; “cie” spells the soft sound /tɕ/.
  • będzie has ę and the soft -dzie- sequence. Careful diacritics matter for correct spelling and pronunciation.
Is it okay to have two instances of czy in one sentence?
  • Yes, if they serve different functions:
    • First Czy starts the yes/no question: Czy mogłaby Pani…
    • Second czy means “whether” inside the content clause: …, czy wejście będzie otwarte
  • Example: Czy mogłaby Pani jutro potwierdzić, czy wejście będzie otwarte? is perfectly acceptable.