"Are you going to school?"
Translation:Czy ty idziesz do szkoły?
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It is caused by the preposition. From Wikipedia: do/od, meaning "to, into/from" goes with genitive. So here 'szkoły' is in the genitive form.
The meaning of the sentence in English is ambivalent. It could be one time (iść) or frequentative (chodzić) representing a condition in life: 'Are you going to school' as opposed to, "Are you working?"
I dont think that's exactly right. "Are you going to school?" could mean either 'literally right now' or as a general question. It depends on the context.
could chodzić also be accepted here? Because we don't really know what is going on?
No, "to be going" happens right now and therefore it can't be translated to "chodzić".
"to be walking" can sometimes, but only if it's 'walking around', without purpose, not to some specific place.
Whenever I ask students here if they go to school or if they ask me if I am going to school they ask "chodzisz na uniwersytet?" albo "chodzisz do szkoły?" And in English I would translate that to: "Are you going to college?" (because in the states we don't really say university) and "Are you going to school" Also, what do you mean that chodzić can't happen right now? It is my understanding that chodzić means right now and habitually. Is that not true? Walking around without purpose sounds a lot like "snuję się", "chodzę sobie", "chodzę na spacer," or maybe just "spaceruję". But I don't know, I'm not Polish, I've only been living here for two years and I enjoy learning.
I forgot that the school context is problematic and that "Are you going to school?" does not only mean "Are you on your way to school right now" (or "Are you going to school tomorrow?") but also the same as "Do you go to school?" so in fact "Are you a pupil/student?". So yes, actually "chodzić" does work in this particular sentence, but that's an exception, generally. Added.
What I mean is that if I am "going to the cinema" or to the store, or to the library - if I am on my way or if I am conveying that as a plan (Present Continuous in the future meaning), I will not use "chodzę" because "chodzę" is for Present Simple, for things that happen habitually. It only works for the multidirectional 'walking', which I think is conveyed quite nicely by 'walking around'. Sure, "snuję się", "chodzę sobie" and "spaceruję" are very good translations of this. Especially "chodzę sobie".
chodzisz is repeated action
idziesz is right now action
English uses "are you going"- so we assume it is "right now" idziesz/idziecie
if it were "do you go" - repeated action , we would say chodzisz/chodzicie
I definitely agree with the other two above, "Are you going to school" is an incredibly common way to ask someone if they're currently enrolled in a school
Well, those are different cases, "szkoły" is Genitive (like here) and "szkołę" is Accusative (e.g. "Lubisz szkołę?" = "Do you like school?").
Please can you remind me of the difference between ty and wy? Many thanks
"ty" - 2nd person singular, talking/referring to one person.
"wy" - 2nd person plural, talking/referring to 2+ people.