How to say in Polish: "Please" & "Here you are"?

"Proszę" is a very important Polish word and a useful one. We can use it in many situations. Sometimes “proszę“ means in Polish  “please”, sometimes- “here you are”, sometimes - “come in!”. You should use the word “proszę“ always when you want to show, that you are a polite person.

Don’t worry about the pronunciation of a typical polish nasal vowel “ę” at the end of the word “proszę“because in this word it sounds just like a simple Polish “e” (you can hear it in a recording inserted at the end of this post).  There is a rule, which says that “ę” at the end of Polish verbs sounds always so. It doesn’t mean that Poles never pronounce nasal “ę”, but you don’t need to bother with that in words like “proszę“ . Some Poles try to pronounce “proszę“ with a noticeable nasal “ę” in the end, but the most famous Polish linguists just laugh at them.

Some tips:
Use a word “proszę“ when you are giving, handing in or passing something to another person in many different circumstances -  both private and official.

In this situation “proszę“ means “here you are”. Look at the example. A waiter or an waitress uses always a word “proszę“when they are placing your ordered drinks or dishes on the table. 

The dialogue from the first picture. "Proszę" (here you are!) - Dziękuję  (Thank you!). 

Instead of using just "proszę" we can use the more polite form of this expression - "proszę bardzo" (“bardzo” means “very”). Poles are used to saying “proszę“ or  “proszę bardzo“ while  handing things to other people, like handing a book in a library.  

The dialogue from the picture 2:“ - Proszę bardzo! (Here you are). 

When someone is handing you something with (or without) saying “proszę“ - you should answer  “dziękuję“ (“thank  you!”). The girl in the library isn’t very polite! 

         Another situation. We use a Polish word “proszę” while ordering something in a cafe, restaurant or buying things in a shop. Without using “proszę” our orders don’t sound polite. 

We can hear a Polish word “proszę“ also after knocking on a door. Poles (who are inside) used to answer with a word “proszę” (please) instead of the longer form  “Proszę wejść” (please - come in). The longer form is used only in situations when 2-3 time repeated word “proszę” doesn’t work and the knocking person seems to be a bit deaf.  

Picture 3.-  Małą latte, proszę. (Cafe Latte – the small one, please)  - Proszę bardzo. (Certainly).

Picture 4. - Puk-puk (knock-knock) – Proszę! (Come in!)


Here are recordings with the dialogues from the bubbles on the pictures (native speaker’s voice):