Ty vs. Vy

The Czech language has two ways of addressing people: Formal and Informal way of speech.

Informal speech
We use informal speech when talking to:

• your friends
• your parents and family members
• young children under 15 years of age
• people you explicitly agreed on using the informal speech (there are complex etiquette rules and hierarchies that say who can offer informal speech to whom first)

Form:
2nd person of singular when speaking to a person: TY (you) + verb in the correct singular form

Ty stojíš vedle stromu. (You are standing next to a tree.)

Formal speech
We use the formal speech:

• when talking to people you don't know personally (older people, teachers, strangers)
• at the workplace (colleagues, boss)
• at shops, banks (shop assistants)
• etc.

The rules are very complicated. We must strictly follow the rules.

Form:
2nd person of plural when speaking to a person: VY (you) + verb in the correct plural form

Vy stojíte vedle stromu. (You are standing next to a tree.)