Breakdown of Czy państwo są daleko?
być
to be
daleko
far
czy
[question particle]
państwo
ladies and gentlemen / you (formal plural)
Questions & Answers about Czy państwo są daleko?
Why does this sentence use są (they are) if the English translation says "Are you"?
In Polish, formal "you" words like państwo act grammatically like third-person nouns. Instead of using the informal plural "you" verb (jesteście), you must use the "they" form of the verb. That is why we use są. You can think of the literal translation as: "Are the ladies and gentlemen far away?".
Who exactly are we talking to when we use państwo?
Państwo is the formal, polite way to say "you" to a group of people. You use it when speaking to a mixed group of men and women, or to a married couple, in a formal or respectful setting. If you were talking to a group of friends instead, you would use the informal plural "you" (wy).
Why doesn't the word order change to make this a question?
In English, we swap words around to ask a question ("You are" becomes "Are you?"). Polish keeps the exact same word order as a normal statement, but simply places the question word Czy at the very beginning to signal that a "yes or no" question is being asked.
Does the word państwo have any other meanings?
Yes! Aside from being used as a formal "you" for a group of people, państwo is also a standard noun that means "state" or "country". You will almost always know which meaning is intended based on the context of the conversation.