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Polish phrasebook

Polish is the official language of Poland, a country of 40M people and is also used by the 10M Polish diaspora around the world. It is understood and can be used for communication in the western parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. Polish is a Western Slavic language and the closest similar languages are those of Poland's neighbours: Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian and Belarusian. The latter two are actually more easily understood by a speaker of Polish, but not in writing, as they use different alphabets.

The language is unique in that it retains the nasal sounds lost in other Slavic languages and uses a unique diacritic mark, an ogonek (a "little tail") attached to a and e to express them. It is also noted for its consonant clusters with similar-sounding affricates and fricatives, some of which sound easier for a rattlesnake to say with its tail than a human with his mouth. On the other hand, there are only 8 vowels in Polish, as compared to some 20 in RP English and the pronunciation follows a set of rules, so it can be read from the spelling of a word.

Being a highly-inflected language, Polish allows much discretion in its word order. For example, Ania kocha Jacka, Jacka kocha Ania, Ania Jacka kocha, etc. all translate to Annie loves Jack, a sentence that cannot be further reordered without changing the meaning. This may cause some confusion for speakers of positional languages such as English. Polish has 7 cases, 3 grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) in singular and 2 (virile and non-virile) in plural. There are 6 tenses and 18 verb conjugation patterns so as you can see the grammar may be a little challenging.

Pronunciation guide

Alphabet | Vowels | Consonants | Digraphs and trigraphs | How to pronounce

Alphabet

A A B C C D E E F G H I J K L L M N N O Ó P R S S T U W Y Z Z Z
a a b c c d e e f g h i j k l l m n n o ó p r s s t u w y z z z

Q q and V v are used in foreign words only. X x is used in some historical names too.

Vowels

a
as in dust

a
nasalized o (not a), similar to the French bon [How to pronounce: Nasal vowels]

e
as in bed

e
nasalized 'e', like rang [How to pronounce: Nasal vowels]

i
as in marine

o
as in lot

ó
see u

u
as in boot

y
as in maximum

Consonants

b
as in bed

c
as in boots

c
~ as in chat, pronounced with the tongue touching the front of the palate

d
as in dog

f
as in fun

g
as in go

h
see ch

j
as in yak

k
as in keep

l
as in lead

l
as in womb

m
as in mother

n
as in nice

n
as in canyon

p
as in pig

q
as kw, see k and w respectively (rarely used)

r
no approximate sound in English but try ring

s
as in song

s
~ as in wish

t
as in top

v
see w (rarely used)

w
as in vote

x
as ks, see k and s respectively (rarely used)

z
as in haze

z
as in seizure

z
as zh in English loanwords or treasure

Digraphs and trigraphs

ch
as Scots say in loch

ci, dzi, ni, si, zi
as a c/dz/n/s/z followed by an i

sz
as in shackles

cz
as in witch

rz
see z

dz
as in John, voiced version of cz

dz
voiced version of dz

szcz
sz + cz is a common combination - just think freshcheese.

How to pronounce

Emphasis is usually on the penultimate syllable.

Devoicing occurs with b, d, g, w, z, z and voiced digraphs in the word endings and in consonant clusters. Thus jablko 'an apple' is really pronounced japko.

Nasal vowels are really nasal in certain configurations only. Other than that, they are om/on for a and em/en for e. To approximate them, say a or e normally and then the say the n sound as in the -ing endings. Link those two sounds together and voila you have a nasal vowel.

Voiceless plosives k, p and t are not aspirated, unlike their English counterparts.

C -Cz, Dz-Dz, S-Sz. This is a little more difficult. The English sh/ch sounds are between s/c and sz/cz respectively - the former are softer, and the latter are harder. Cz is really just an affricate consisting of t + sz (or t + sh in English). Dz is a voiced c and dz is a voiced counterpart of cz, so another way to learn cz is to de-voice the J sound you know from John.

Rolling r is the sound you will most probably never learn. Approximate it with the r you know, whatever it is. Or if you are really determined, read about the alveolar trill and the alveolar flap.

After you know how to pronounce letters and digraphs, just pronounce all letters as you see them.

Phrase list

Basics
Problems
Numbers

Basics

Hello
Informal - Czesc (Tch-esh-ch) Formal - Dzien dobry (Jeyn Dob-ry)

How are you?
Jak sie masz? (Yahk sheng mah-sh)

Fine, thank you
Dziekuje, dobrze. (Jenkoo-yeng dob-zhe)

What is your name?
Jak masz na imie? (yahk mah-sh nah eem-ye)

My name is ______.
Nazywam sie ______. (Nah-zivam sheng ____)

Please.
Prosze (PROH-sheng)

Thank you.
Dziekuje. (Jenkoo-yeng)

You're welcome
Informal - Nie ma za co (nyeh mah zah tsoh) Formal - Prosze (PROH-sheng)

Yes.
Tak (tahk)

No.
Nie (nyeh)

Excuse me.
(for getting attention) Przepraszam. (psheh-prah-shahm)

I'm sorry.
Przepraszam. (psheh-prah-shahm)

Goodbye
Informal - pa (pah) Formal - Do zobaczenia (doh zoh-bah-chen-yah)

I can't speak Polish [well].
Nie mówie [dobrze] po polsku. (nyeh moo-vyeng [dob-zheh] poh pol-skoo)

Do you speak English?
Czy mówisz po angielsku? (chih moo-vish poh ahng-gyel-skoo?)

Is there someone here who speaks English?
Czy ktos tu mówi po angielsku? (tch-y ktosh too moo-vee poh anhng-yel-skoo)

Help!
Pomocy! (poh-moh-tsy) or Ratunku! (rah-toon-koo)

Good night
Dobranoc. (doh-brah-nots)

I don't understand
Nie rozumiem (Nyeh roh-zoom-yem)

Where is the toilet?
Gdzie jest toaleta? (g-jeh yest twa-leta)

Problems

Help!
Pomocy! (poh-moh-tsy) or Ratunku! (rah-toon-koo)

Can you help me?
Czy moze mi pan m / pani f pomóc? (Tchih MO-zheh mee pahn / PAH-nee POH-moots?)

Leave me alone.
Zostaw mnie. (Zostaff mnieh)

I'll call the police.
As in summoning - Zawolam policje! (ZAH-voh-wam poh-litz-yeh) As in using a phone - Zadzwonie na policje (ZAH-dzvohn-yeh nah poh-litz-yeh)

Police!
Policja! (po-litz-yah)

Stop the thief!
Zatrzymac zlodzieja! (zah-tschy-matz zwoh-TZIEH-yah)

I need your help.
Potrzebuje pomocy. (poh-tscheh-BOO-yeh poh-moh-tsi)

It's an emergency.
To nagla potrzeba (toh NAH-gwah poh-CHEh-bah)

I'm lost.
Zabladzilem. (zah-bwon-TZEE-wehm)

I lost my bag.
Zgubilem torbe. (zgu-BEE-wehm TOHR-beh)

I lost my wallet.
Zgubilem portfel. (zgu-BEE-wehm pohr-tvehll)

I'm sick.
Jestem chory. (YEH-stehm hoh-ry)

I'm injured.
Jestem ranny (YEH-stehm rahn-ni)

I need a doctor.
Potrzebuje lekarza. (Pohtschehbooie leckaschah)

Can I use (your) phone?
Czy moge zadzwonic (od pana/pani)? (tshy moh-gheh zah-tzvoh-nitz (ohd pa-nih [fem.]/pah-nah [masc.])

Numbers

Comma is the decimal point in Polish, and space is used as a thousand separator.
For negative numbers, the minus sign is before the number.
The currency symbol is zl (sometimes also PLN where different currencies are involved or, incorrectly, PLZ) and it goes after the amount.
Common abbreviations are tys. for 'thousands' (SI: k), mln for million (SI: M). Miliard or mld is a billion, and bilion is a trillion (as in the old British notation).

Examples: 1,000,000 is 1 000 000, 3.141 is 3,141. PLN 14.95 is 14,95 zl, and the Polish public debt is -500 000 000 000 zl or -500 000 mln zl or -500 mld zl or 0,5 bln zl (not that much, actually).

Numbers
liczby

1
jeden (YEH-den) (pierwszy)

2
dwa (dvah) (drugi)

3
trzy (tzhih) (trzeci)

4
cztery (CHTEH-rih) (czwarty)

5
piec (pyench) (piaty)

6
szesc (sheshch) (szósty)

7
siedem (SHEH-dem) (siódmy)

8
osiem (OH-shem) (ósmy)

9
dziewiec (JEV-yench) (dziewiaty)

10
dziesiec (JESH-yench) (dziesiaty)

11
jedenascie (yeh-deh-NAHSH-cheh) (-nasty)

12
dwanascie (dvah-NAHSH-cheh)

13
trzynascie (tzhi-NAHSH-cheh)

14
czternascie (chter-NAHSH-cheh)

15
pietnascie (pyent-NAHSH-cheh)

16
szesnascie (shes-NAHSH-cheh)

17
siedemnascie (sheh-dem-NAHSH-cheh)

18
osiemnascie (oh-shem-NAHSH-cheh)

19
dziewietnascie (jev-yent-NAHSH-cheh)

20
dwadziescia (dwudziesty)

21
dwadziescia jeden

22
dwadziescia dwa

23
dwadziescia trzy

30
trzydziesci (trzyetziesty)

40
czterdziesci (czterdziesty)

50
piecdziesiat (piecdziesiaty)

60
szescdziesiat (szescdziesiaty)

70
siedemdziesiat (siedemdziesiaty)

80
osiemdziesiat (osiemdziesiaty)

90
dziewiecdziesiat (dziewiecdziesiaty)

100
sto (setny)

200
dwiescie (dwusetny)

300
trzysta (trzysetny)

400
czterysta (czterysetny)

500
piecset (piecsetny)

600
szescset (szescsetny)

700
siedemset (siedemsetny)

800
osiemset (osiemsetny)

900
dziewiecset (dziewiecsetny)

1000
tysiac (tysieczny)

2000
dwa tysiace (dwutysieczny)

1 000 000
milion (milionowy)

number _____ (train, bus, etc.)
numer _____

half
pól/polowa

less
mniej

more
wiecej

________

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