The Polish alphabet
Although Polish pronunciation may seem pretty daunting, it’s in fact regular. After you memorize a couple of patterns, you’ll soon notice that you can pronounce every word you come across.
| a (a) | ą (ohN) | b (be) | c (tse) |
| ć (ch’ye) | d (de) | e (e) | ę (ehN) |
| f (ef) | g (gye) | h (ha) | i (ee) |
| j (yot) | k (ka) | l (el) | ł (ew) |
| m (em) | n (en) | ń (en’) | o (o) |
| ó (o kreskovane) | p (pe) | q (koo) | r (er) |
| s (es) | ś (esh’) | t (te) | u (oo) |
| v (faw) | w (voo) | x (eeks) | y (eegrek) |
| z (zet) | ź (z’yet) | ż (zhet) |
Numbers in the Polish language
Whether you want to ask for directions to a certain address, find out which bus or train to catch, or exchange phone numbers, use this helpful table to figure out how to pronounce numbers in Polish.
Combining numbers in Polish works similarly to English: 25 is dwadzieścia pięć (dva-dj’yesh’-ch’ya pyen’ch’) (twenty-five), and for 783 you say siedemset osiemdziesiąt trzy (sh’ye-dem-set o-sh’yem-dj’ye-sh’yont tshih) (seven-hundred eighty-three). However, for 1,422 Polish speakers say tysiąc czterysta dwadzieścia dwa (tih-sh’yonts chte-rih-sta dva-dj’yesh’-ch’ya dva) (one thousand, four hundred twenty-two) and never combine it as “fourteen hundred twenty-two.”
| Number | Polish (pronunciation) |
| 0 | zero (ze-ro) |
| 1 | jeden (ye-den) |
| 2 | dwa (dva) |
| 3 | trzy (t-shih) |
| 4 | cztery (chte-rih) |
| 5 | pięć (pyen’ch’) |
| 6 | sześć (shesh’ch’) |
| 7 | siedem (sh’ye-dem) |
| 8 | osiem (o-sh’yem) |
| 9 | dziewięć (dj’ye-vyen’ch’) |
| 10 | dziesięć (dj’ye-sh’yen’ch’) |
| 11 | jedenaście (ye-de-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 12 | dwanaście (dva-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 13 | trzynaście (t-shih-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 14 | czternaście (chter-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 15 | piętnaście (pyet-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 16 | szesnaście (shes-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 17 | siedemnaście (sh’ye-dem-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 18 | osiemnaście (o-sh’yem-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 19 | dziewiętnaście (dj’ye-vyet-nash’-ch’ye) |
| 20 | dwadzieścia (dva-dj’yesh’-ch’ya) |
| 30 | trzydzieści (t-shih-dj’yesh’-ch’ee) |
| 40 | czterdzieści (chter- dj’yesh’-ch’ee) |
| 50 | pięćdziesiąt (pyen’-dj’ye-sh’ont) |
| 60 | sześćdziesiąt (shez’-dj’ye-sh’ont) |
| 70 | siedemdziesiąt (sh’ye-dem-dj’ye-sh’ont) |
| 80 | osiemdziesiąt (o-sh’yem-dj’ye-sh’ont) |
| 90 | dziewięćdziesiąt (dj’ye-vyen’-dj’ye-sh’ont) |
| 100 | sto (sto) |
| 200 | dwieście (dvyesh’-ch’ye) |
| 300 | trzysta (t-shih-sta) |
| 400 | czterysta (chte-rih-sta) |
| 500 | pięćset (pyen’ch’-set) |
| 600 | sześćset (shesh’ch’-set/shey-set) |
| 700 | siedemset (sh’ye-dem-set) |
| 800 | osiemset (o-sh’yem-set) |
| 900 | dziewięćset (dj’ye-vyen’ch’-set) |
| 1,000 | tysiąc (tih-sh’yonts) |
Handy everyday phrases in Polish
Whether you’re staying with friends and family in Poland or simply there as a tourist or business visitor, these quick phrases can help you communicate in Polish.
- Cześć! (chesh’ch’!) (Hi!/Bye!)
- Dzień dobry! (dj’yen’ dob-rih!) (Hello!/Good day!/Good morning!/Good afternoon!)
- Do widzenia! (do vee-dze-n’ya!) (Goodbye!)
- Dobry wieczór! (dob-rih vye-choor!) (Good evening!)
- Słucham? (swoo-ham?) (Pardon? Excuse me?)
- Dziękuję. (dj’yen-koo-ye.) (Thank you.)
- Miło mi. (mee-wo mee.) (Nice to meet you.)
- Nie rozumiem. (n’ye ro-zoo-myem.) (I don’t understand.)
- (pshe-pra-sham.) (I’m sorry/Excuse me.)
- Co to znaczy? (tso to zna-chih?) (What does it mean?)
- Jak się mówi po polsku . . . ? (yak sh’ye moo-vee po pol-skoo . . . ?) (How do you say . . . in Polish?)