co robisz?
The English phrase "what are you doing?" is translated into Polish as co robisz?
This phrase is used to ask someone about their current activity or their general plans. In Polish, the form co robisz? covers both the continuous aspect (asking what someone is doing right now) and the simple aspect (asking what someone usually does or what they are up to).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of co, meaning "what" and robisz, meaning "you do" or "are doing".
How does it change in a sentence?
The informal form co robisz? uses the second-person singular. When addressing a man formally, use co pan robi? and when addressing a woman formally, use co pani robi?
Did you know?
- The word co shares an ancient ancestor with the English word 'what', both tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root for questioning.
- If you want to ask 'what are you doing?' in the sense of 'how are you doing?', you would actually say 'co u ciebie?', which translates literally to 'what [is] with you?'
- In very informal Polish slang, rather than asking 'co robisz?', a teenager might simply say 'co tam?', which functions more like 'what's up?' or 'what's going on?'
Example conversation
Agnieszka calls Tomasz on his mobile phone during the afternoon.
- AgnieszkaCześć Tomasz, co robisz?Hi Tomasz, what are you doing?
- TomaszNic specjalnego, po prostu odpoczywam.Nothing special, I'm just resting.
- AgnieszkaChciałam cię zapytać o wspólne wyjście.I wanted to ask you about going out together.
- TomaszTo świetny pomysł, chętnie się spotkam.That's a great idea, I'd love to meet up.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries co, CC BY-SA 4.0.
