Learn Polish: Proszę pana, gdzie jest bank? - Excuse me sir, where is the bank?

While przepraszam means 'I apologize' and is used to say 'excuse me' when bumping into someone or interrupting, proszę pana (literally 'I ask the gentleman') is a very polite and natural way to get a man's attention before asking a question.

Why is it pana and not just pan?

The verb proszę (I ask/request) requires the noun that follows it to take the accusative case. For a masculine personal noun like pan (sir/gentleman), the accusative form adds an -a, making it pana.

How would I say this if I were talking to a woman?

You would say proszę pani. Just like with pana, the word for lady/madam (pani) takes the accusative case here, though its form happens to look exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.

Is it okay to say gdzie bank jest instead of gdzie jest bank?

In Polish, the verb usually comes before the subject in this type of question. While gdzie bank jest? would be understood, putting the verb right after the question word (gdzie jest bank?) sounds much more natural.