The Polish alphabet and pronunciation – letter chart with examples

The Polish alphabet – 32 letters

The Polish alphabet is the Latin alphabet with nine extra letters marked with an accent, a dot, a hook (tail) or a stroke. In alphabetical order, a letter with a mark comes straight after its base letter.

Polish words are read according to fixed rules, not memorised one by one as in English. The difficulty is that some letters sound different from your own language. In the tables below we describe pronunciation approximately, comparing it with sounds from other languages. Square brackets show how a word really sounds, written in Polish letters.

Letters that sound different from other languages

A dozen or so letters cause most of the trouble – the rest sound much as they do in most European languages.

Digraphs – two letters, one sound

A digraph is a pair of letters that you read as a single sound. Do not split them: szkoła is [szkoła], not [s-hkoła].

Note: the cluster szcz is two digraphs side by side – you read it as [sz] + [cz]: szczęście, jeszcze, deszcz.

Soft sounds: when to write ś and when si

The same soft sound can be written in two ways: with an accent mark (ś, ć, ź, ń, dź) or with the letter “i” (si, ci, zi, ni, dzi). The choice depends on what comes next.

• Before a vowel you write “i”, and the “i” itself is not a separate sound: siostra [śostra], ciocia [ćoća], ziemia [źemja], nie, dziadek.
• Before a consonant and at the end of a word you write the accent mark: środa, ćma, źle, koń, dźwięk, gość.

The same rule works when words change their endings: koń – konia, gość – gościa, łoś – łosia.

Three similar series: s – sz – ś, c – cz – ć

Polish distinguishes three kinds of hissing and hushing sounds, and swapping one for another changes the meaning of a word. This is the most common source of misunderstanding for people whose language has only one “sh”.

Practise in sets: kasa – kasza – Kasia are three different words (a till in a shop, groats or porridge to eat, a girl’s name). Likewise, być (to be) and bić (to hit) differ only in the vowel y / i.

The nasal vowels ą and ę

The letters ą and ę are nasal vowels, but they sound truly nasal only in certain positions. How you pronounce them depends on the sound that follows.

Do not overdo the nasal ę at the end of a word: dziękuję pronounced with a strong [eŋ] sounds artificial. On the other hand, say a final ą clearly: without the nasal sound, z mamą (instrumental case) sounds like mamo (vocative case), which is a different form.

Devoicing: we write b, we say p

Polish voiced consonants lose their voicing at the end of a word and next to voiceless consonants. The spelling shows the basic form, while the pronunciation shows what you actually hear.

• At the end of a word: chleb [chlep], róg [ruk], nóż [nusz], sad [sat].
• W and rz after a voiceless consonant: kwiat [kfiat], twój [tfuj], wtorek [ftorek], krzesło [kszesło].
• The other way round – voicing before a voiced consonant: prośba [proźba], jakby [jagby].

How do you check the spelling? Find a form in which a vowel follows the consonant: chleb – chleba, róg – rogi, nóż – noże.

Stress: the penultimate syllable

In Polish, stress falls on the second-to-last syllable of a word – one of the simplest rules of Polish pronunciation. The rule also applies when the word changes its ending – the stress “moves” along with the end of the word.

• POL-ska, war-SZA-wa, dzię-KU-ję, STU-dent → stu-DEN-ta → stu-den-TA-mi.
• Nie with a one-syllable verb takes the stress itself: NIE wiem, NIE mam.

There are few exceptions, and three groups are worth knowing:

• the past tense, 1st and 2nd person plural – stress on the third syllable from the end: ro-BI-li-śmy, BY-li-ście;
• the conditional mood – the third syllable from the end: CHCIA-ła-bym, zro-BI-li-by-śmy (fourth from the end);
• words ending in -yka / -ika of Greek and Latin origin – in careful speech, the third syllable from the end: ma-te-MA-ty-ka, MU-zy-ka. In casual speech you often hear the stress on the penultimate syllable.

Same sound, different spelling: ó / u, rz / ż, ch / h

Three pairs of letters sound identical, so you have to memorise the spelling or check it in a related word. This does not affect pronunciation – it is a spelling problem, not a speaking one.

Correct spelling of letters and the basic spelling rules for voiced and voiceless, hard and soft consonants are among the B1 writing requirements in the regulation on examinations in Polish as a foreign language.

Common pronunciation mistakes and how to fix them

Most mistakes come from reading Polish letters by the rules of your own language. Below are the ones teachers correct most often in the first lessons.

How to practise pronunciation

Pronunciation improves with regular, short practice out loud – 10 minutes every day is better than an hour once a week.

1. Read short texts slowly out loud, first syllable by syllable, then fluently.
2. Record yourself and compare with a recording of a Polish teacher – that way you hear mistakes you do not notice while speaking.
3. Practise pairs of words that differ by one sound: kasa – kasza, być – bić, lata – łata.
4. Work with a teacher – pronunciation is the hardest thing to fix on your own, because the difference has to be heard from outside. In our pronunciation and stress course, the teacher chooses exercises suited to your native language.

If you are just starting, combine the alphabet with the 12-week study plan or the beginners’ course. Wondering whether Polish pronunciation is the biggest obstacle? Read whether Polish is difficult.