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Polish is written with the Latin alphabet, with nine letters of its own: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź and ż. Its spelling is very regular: every letter is said, a word is read as it is written, and once the spellings are known, any word can be read aloud. The difficulties for an English speaker are elsewhere: several letters have another sound than in English (w is said “v”, c “ts”, j “y”, ł “w”); many sounds are written with two or three letters (sz, cz, rz, dzi); Polish has two series of “sh” sounds that English does not tell apart (sz and ś, cz and ć); and ą and ę are said partly through the nose. The stress is almost always on the last syllable but one.
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The Polish alphabet
The Polish alphabet has thirty-two letters. Each of the letters with a mark (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż) is a letter of its own, placed right after its plain letter: in a dictionary, ćma comes after every word in c, and łódź after every word in l. The letters q, v and x are not part of the Polish alphabet; they are found only in loanwords and foreign names (quiz, Xavier), and words are sorted with them in their Latin place. The vowels are named after their sound, most consonants with an e as in “bed”, either after the consonant (be, ce, de) or before it (ef, el, em). The names that catch out an English speaker are those of c (tseh), g (gyeh), h (khah), j (yot), w (voo) and y (EE-grek).
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /a/ | /a/ | tak | like “a” in “father”, but short (tak); never “ay” as in “name” said ah, like “a” in “father”; never “ay” |
| Ą ą | a z ogonkiem /a z ɔˈɡɔɲkʲɛm/ | said a z ogonkiem, “a with a little tail” | ||
| B b | be /bɛ/ | /b/ | brat | as in English said beh, the “e” as in “bed” |
| C c | ce /tsɛ/ | /ts/ | co | “ts” as in “cats”, at the start of a word too (co); never “k” or “s” said tseh, like the “ts” of “cats” followed by the “e” of “bed”; never “see” |
| Ć ć | cie /tɕɛ/ | said chyeh, a soft “ch” | ||
| D d | de /dɛ/ | /d/ | dom | as in English, the tongue against the upper teeth said deh, the “e” as in “bed” |
| E e | e /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | ten | like “e” in “bed” (ten); never “ee”, and never silent at the end of a word said eh, like “e” in “bed”; never “ee” |
| Ę ę | e z ogonkiem /ɛ z ɔˈɡɔɲkʲɛm/ | said e z ogonkiem, “e with a little tail” | ||
| F f | ef /ɛf/ | /f/ | film | as in English said ef, as in English |
| G g | gie /ɡʲɛ/ | /ɡ/ | góra | hard, as in “go”, before e and i too; never the “j” of “jet” said gyeh, with the hard g of “go”; never “jee” |
| H h | ha /xa/ | /x/ | hałas | like “ch” in Scottish “loch” (hałas); never the breathed “h” of “house” said khah, with the “ch” of Scottish “loch”; never “aitch” |
| I i | i /i/ | /i/ | piwo | like “ee” in “see”, but short (piwo); never “eye” said ee, like “ee” in “see”; never “eye” |
| J j | jot /jɔt/ | /j/ | ja | like “y” in “yes” (ja); never the “j” of “jet” said yot, with the “y” of “yes”; never “jay” |
| K k | ka /ka/ | /k/ | kot | as in English, without the puff of air of “cat” said kah |
| L l | el /ɛl/ | /l/ | las | like “l” in “look”, never the dark “ll” of “full” said el, as in English |
| Ł ł | eł /ɛw/ | said ew, the “e” of “bed” followed by a “w” | ||
| M m | em /ɛm/ | /m/ | mama | as in English said em, as in English |
| N n | en /ɛn/ | /n/ | nos | as in English said en, as in English |
| Ń ń | eń /ɛɲ/ | said eny, with the “ny” of “canyon” at the end | ||
| O o | o /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | dom | an open “o”, like “o” in British “hot” (dom); never “oh” gliding into “oo” as in “go” said aw, a short open “o” as in British “hot”; never “oh” |
| Ó ó | o z kreską /ɔ s ˈkrɛskɔw̃/ | said o z kreską, “o with a stroke” | ||
| P p | pe /pɛ/ | /p/ | pan | as in English, without the puff of air of “pen” said peh, the “e” as in “bed” |
| Q q | ku /ku/ | said koo, a letter of loanwords; never “cue” | ||
| R r | er /ɛr/ | /r/ | ryba | a rolled r, the tip of the tongue tapping or trilling behind the upper teeth (ryba); never the English r said er, with a rolled r |
| S s | es /ɛs/ | /s/ | sok | “s” as in “sun”, between two vowels too said es, as in English |
| Ś ś | eś /ɛɕ/ | said esh, with a soft “sh” | ||
| T t | te /tɛ/ | /t/ | tak | as in English, the tongue against the upper teeth and without the puff of air of “top” said teh, the “e” as in “bed” |
| U u | u /u/ | /u/ | duży | like “oo” in “food”, but short (duży); never “you” said oo, like “oo” in “food”; never “you” |
| V v | fał /faw/ | said faw, a letter of loanwords; never “vee” | ||
| W w | wu /vu/ | /v/ | woda | “v” as in “van” (woda); never the English “w” said voo; never “double u” |
| X x | iks /iks/ | said eeks, a letter of loanwords | ||
| Y y | igrek /ˈiɡrɛk/ | /ɘ/ | my | a short vowel like the “i” of “bit”, said further back in the mouth (my); never “why” and never “ee” said EE-grek, stressed on the first syllable; never “why” |
| Z z | zet /zɛt/ | /z/ | zupa | “z” as in “zoo” (zupa); never “ts” said zet, like British “zed” with an “e” as in “bed” |
| Ź ź | ziet /ʑɛt/ | said zhyet, with a soft “zh” | ||
| Ż ż | żet /ʐɛt/ | said zhet, with the “s” of “pleasure” |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: to the question Jak to się pisze? (“How is it written?”), the answer for Ola is o – el – a. A letter with a mark is named with its mark: a z ogonkiem (“a with a little tail”), o z kreską (“o with a stroke”), zet z kropką (“z with a dot”, another name of ż), zet z kreską (ź). A double letter is announced with podwójne (“double”): Anna is spelt a, podwójne en, a.
- Jak to się pisze?How is it written?
- a z ogonkiema with a little tail
- zet z kropkąz with a dot
Remember
In Polish, c is called tseh, h khah, j yot, w voo and y EE-grek. The letters with a mark are separate letters, both in the alphabet and in a dictionary.
Many consonants are said much as in English: b, d, f, g (always hard, as in “go”), k, l, m, n, p, s, t and z, although p, t and k are said without the puff of air heard in English “pen”, “top” or “cat”. Said differently are c, h, j, r, w and the vowels. Each vowel has one short, clear sound, whether stressed or not, and is never reduced to the “a” of “about”.
Difference from English
English vowels glide: “no” ends in “oo”, “day” in “ee”. Polish vowels are short, pure and held steady, stressed or not: dom has a clean, short “o”, ten a clean “e”. The letters i and y are two different vowels: i is the “ee” of “see”, y is close to the “i” of “bit”, said further back. Three letters have the sound of another English letter: w is said “v”, j “y”, and c “ts”.
- wodawater
- cowhat
- jaI
- my / piwowe / beer
- rybafish
- hałasnoise
Common mistakes
[ˈwɔda]→ [ˈvɔda]In woda, w is said like “v” in “van”, never like English “w”.[kɔ]→ [tsɔ]In co, c is said “ts”, at the start of a word too.[dʒa]→ [ja]In ja, j is said like “y” in “yes”.
Practise
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Letter groups
Many Polish sounds are written with two or three letters. The groups sz, cz, rz, ch, dz, dż and dź each stand for one sound. A consonant followed by i and another vowel is soft: the i is not said as a vowel of its own, it only shows that the consonant is soft, so that ci, si, zi, ni and dzi before a vowel are the spellings of ć, ś, ź, ń and dź. Polish thus has two series of “sh” sounds: a hard one, said with the tongue curled back (sz, cz, ż or rz, dż), and a soft one, said with the middle of the tongue raised towards the palate (ś, ć, ź, dź, also written si, ci, zi, dzi).
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /x/ | chleb | like “ch” in Scottish “loch” (chleb), the same sound as h; never the “ch” of “church” |
| cz | /tʂ/ | czas | like “ch” in “church”, with the tongue curled back (czas) |
| sz | /ʂ/ | szkoła | like “sh” in “ship”, with the tongue curled back (szkoła) |
| rz | /ʐ/ · /ʂ/ | rzeka trzy | the same sound as ż, like the “s” of “pleasure” (rzeka); after p, t, k and ch, like “sh” in “ship” (trzy); never r followed by z |
| dz | /dz/ | dzwon | like “ds” in “kids” (dzwon) |
| dż | /dʐ/ | dżem | like “j” in “jam”, with the tongue curled back (dżem) |
| dź | /dʑ/ | dźwięk | a soft “j”, with the middle of the tongue raised (dźwięk) |
| ci | /tɕ/ | ciocia | before a vowel, a soft “ch”, the spelling of ć (ciocia); before a consonant or at the end, ć followed by “ee” |
| si | /ɕ/ | siostra | before a vowel, a soft “sh”, the spelling of ś (siostra) |
| zi | /ʑ/ | zima | before a vowel, a soft “zh”, the spelling of ź (zima) |
| ni | /ɲ/ | nie | before a vowel, like “ny” in “canyon”, the spelling of ń (nie) |
| dzi | /dʑ/ | dzień | before a vowel, a soft “j”, the spelling of dź (dzień) |
| ie | /jɛ/ · /ɛ/ | pies nie | after p, b, m, w and f, like “ye” in “yes” (pies); after a soft consonant, a plain “e” (nie) |
| ia | /ja/ · /a/ | miasto ciasto | after p, b, m, w and f, like “ya” in “yard” (miasto); after a soft consonant, a plain “a” (ciasto) |
Difference from English
English has one “sh” sound; Polish has two, and they tell words apart. Sz is said with the tongue curled back, deeper than the English “sh”; ś (or si) is softer, said with the middle of the tongue raised, close to the “sh” of “sheep” said with a smile. The same difference separates cz from ć (or ci) and ż from ź (or zi).
- szkoła / śniegschool / snow
- czas / byćtime / to be
- rzeka / żonariver / wife
- chlebbread
- ciociaaunt
- dzieńday
- piesdog
Remember
rz and ż are two spellings of one sound, and so are ch and h. Which one a word takes is learnt with the word: rzeka, żona; chleb, hałas.
Common mistakes
[ˈrzɛka]→ [ˈʐɛka]In rzeka, rz is one sound, like the “s” of “pleasure”, never r followed by z.[ˈtʃlɛp]→ [xlɛp]In chleb, ch is said like “ch” in Scottish “loch”.[ˈsiɔstra]→ [ˈɕɔstra]In siostra, the i is not said: si before a vowel is a soft “sh”.
Practise
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Written marks
Polish uses three marks, each part of the letter: the stroke (kreska) over ć, ń, ó, ś and ź; the little tail (ogonek) under ą and ę; and the dot (kropka) over ż. The bar across ł is part of that letter. A mark never shows the stress; it shows another sound, and a word written without its mark is spelt wrong, or becomes another word.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ą | /ɔw̃/ · /ɔn/ · /ɔm/ · /ɔŋ/ | mąż kąt dąb mąka | an “o” said through the nose, ending in a nasal “w” (mąż); before t or d, like “on” (kąt); before p or b, like “om” (dąb); before k or g, like “ong” in “song” (mąka) |
| ę | /ɛw̃/ · /ɛn/ · /ɛm/ · /ɛŋ/ | język piętro zęby ręka | an “e” said through the nose, ending in a nasal “w” (język); before t or d, like “en” (piętro); before p or b, like “em” (zęby); before k or g, like “eng” (ręka) |
| ć | /tɕ/ | być | a soft “ch”, with the middle of the tongue raised (być); written ci before a vowel |
| ł | /w/ | mały | like “w” in “wet” (mały); never “l” |
| ń | /ɲ/ | koń | like “ny” in “canyon” (koń); written ni before a vowel |
| ó | /u/ | mój | like “oo” in “food”, but short, the same sound as u (mój); never “oh” |
| ś | /ɕ/ | śnieg | a soft “sh”, with the middle of the tongue raised (śnieg); written si before a vowel |
| ź | /ʑ/ | źle | a soft “zh”, with the middle of the tongue raised (źle); written zi before a vowel |
| ż | /ʐ/ | żona | like the “s” of “pleasure”, with the tongue curled back (żona), the same sound as rz |
The stress
A Polish word is stressed on its last syllable but one: szkoła (SHKO-wa), dziękuję (jen-KOO-ye), Polska. The stress moves when an ending adds a syllable: Polak, Polaka. A few words, mostly loanwords such as muzyka and fizyka, are stressed on the syllable before. The stress is never written.
Difference from English
ó and u are two spellings of one sound, and so are ż and rz: mój sounds like “mooy”, and góra begins like “goo”. Which spelling a word takes is learnt with the word. ł looks like an l but is said like English “w”: mały sounds like “MAH-wy”.
- mążhusband
- języklanguage, tongue
- rękahand
- małysmall
- końhorse
- mójmy
- żonawife
Common mistakes
[ˈmalɨ]→ [ˈmawɨ]In mały, ł is said like “w” in “wet”, never like “l”.[mɔj]→ [muj]In mój, ó is said like “oo” in “food”.
Capital letters. As in English, a capital marks the start of a sentence and proper names, including the names of countries and towns (Polska, Kraków). Days, months, languages and adjectives of nationality are written with a small letter, unlike in English: poniedziałek (“Monday”), styczeń (“January”), polski (“Polish”). In a letter or a message, the polite pronouns are written with a capital as a sign of respect: Pan, Pani, Ty. A capital letter is written with its mark: Łódź, Śląsk, Żaneta.
Practise
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Sound changes at the end of a word
No letter is silent in Polish, as letters are in English “knife” or “lamb”. But a consonant is not always said with its own sound. At the end of a word, b, d, g, w, z, ż, rz and dź are said voiceless, as p, t, k, f, s, sz and ć: chleb sounds like “khlep”. Inside a word, a group of consonants is said all voiced or all voiceless, after its last consonant: w after k is said “f” (kwiat). The letter i before a vowel is not said as a vowel: it only softens the consonant before it. At the end of a word, ę is said as a plain e, while ą is still said through the nose.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| -b | /p/ | chleb | like “p” (chleb) |
| -d | /t/ | obiad | like “t” (obiad) |
| -g | /k/ | śnieg | like “k” (śnieg) |
| -w | /f/ | krew | like “f” (krew) |
| -z | /s/ | raz | like “s” (raz) |
| -ż | /ʂ/ | mąż | like “sh” in “ship” (mąż) |
| -rz | /ʂ/ | lekarz | like “sh” in “ship” (lekarz) |
| -dź | /tɕ/ | łódź | a soft “ch”, like ć (łódź) |
| w | /f/ | kwiat | after k, p, t, s, sz and ch, like “f” (kwiat) |
| i | silent | nie | not said before a vowel: it only softens the consonant before it (nie) |
| -ą | /ɔw̃/ | są | said through the nose, like an “o” ending in a nasal “w” (są) |
| -ę | /ɛ/ | idę | a plain “e”, the nose not being used (idę) |
Difference from English
English “bad” and “bat” end differently; in Polish, a final b is said “p” and a final d “t”, so that chleb ends in a “p” sound and obiad in a “t” sound. The b is written because it is heard again when an ending follows: chleba (“of bread”). A final ę is said as a plain e: idę (“I go”) sounds like “EE-deh”; a final ą is said with its nasal “w”: są (“they are”) is close to “sow” said through the nose.
- chlebbread
- śniegsnow
- mążhusband
- kwiatflower
- idęI go
- sąthey are
Common mistakes
[xlɛb]→ [xlɛp]At the end of chleb, b is said “p”.[kvjat]→ [kfjat]In kwiat, w after k is said “f”.[ˈidɛw̃]→ [ˈidɛ]At the end of idę, ę is said as a plain e.
Practise
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In short
| Written | Said | Example |
|---|---|---|
| w | “v” | woda |
| ł | “w” | mały |
| j | “y” of “yes” | ja |
| c | “ts” | co |
| ch, h | “ch” of “loch” | chleb, hałas |
| sz, cz | “sh”, “ch”, tongue curled back | szkoła, czas |
| rz, ż | “s” of “pleasure” | rzeka, żona |
| ś / si, ć / ci | soft “sh”, soft “ch” | śnieg, ciocia |
| ń / ni | “ny” of “canyon” | koń, nie |
| ó, u | “oo” | mój, duży |
| y | “i” of “bit”, further back | my |
| ą, ę | “o”, “e” through the nose | mąż, język |
| final b, d, g, w, z | p, t, k, f, s | chleb, śnieg |
| final ę | plain e | idę |
| stress | last syllable but one | szkoła |