Learn Polish: Czy pan jest inżynierem? - Are you an engineer, sir?

When you use the verb być (to be) to say what someone's profession or nationality is, Polish requires a different form called the Instrumental case. Since inżynier is a masculine noun ending in a consonant, we add the -em ending to make it inżynierem.

The English translation is 'Are you', but isn't jest the word for 'is'?

Yes! When speaking formally in Polish, you do not use the regular 'you' (ty). Instead, you use pan (for a man) and pair it with the third-person verb jest (is). You are literally asking 'Is the gentleman an engineer?'.

Do I always have to use Czy to ask a question like this?

Czy is the standard way to start a yes/no question in Polish, acting almost like a spoken question mark. While you can sometimes just use a questioning tone of voice without it in casual speech, using Czy is the clearest and most polite way to ask, especially in a formal sentence.

Would it be wrong to change the word order and say 'Czy jest pan inżynierem'?

No, that is also perfectly correct! Polish word order is quite flexible. Both Czy pan jest and Czy jest pan mean exactly the same thing, though keeping pan right after czy is a very common and natural pattern.