Guide to Polish Alphabet with Pronunciation
April 4, 2022 2022-04-11 11:40Guide to Polish Alphabet with Pronunciation
ABECADŁO – the POLISH ALPHABET
It is not a secret that Polish language is a difficult one to learn. Even Polish native speakers make mistakes. As the Polish alphabet has more letters than the English one and the pronunciation is not easy, learning Polish alphabet may be challenging for the foreigners.
Our task for today is to make it easier for you to learn the Polish alphabet and the right pronunciation.
The most important information about the Polish alphabet:
- ABECADŁO is a different name for the ALPHABET.
- It is based on the Latin alphabet.
- It has 6 more letters than the English alphabet.
- It contains 9go intriguing characters:
Ą, Ć, Ę, Ł, Ń, Ó, Ś, Ź, Ż

Today we will focus on the Polish alphabet and its letters.
Look at that sentence. This is a pangram. It contains all of the Polish letters!
Pójdźże kiń tę chmurność w głąb flaszy.
*English example of a pangram:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
PRONUNCIATION IN POLISH ALPHABET
It’s time to focus on the right pronunciation of the letters which are in the Polish alphabet.
(English equivalent) | ||
A (a) | /ä/ | large |
Ą (ą) | /ɔ̃/ | denouement; nasal o |
B (b) | /b/ | bed |
C (c) | /t̪͡s̪/ | pits |
Ć (ć) | /t͡ɕ/ | chips |
D (d) | /d̪/ | door |
E (e) | /ɛ/ | bell |
Ę (ę) | /ɛ̃/ | nasal e; slightly lengthened e |
F (f) | /f/ | four |
G (g) | /ɡ/ | go |
H (h) | /x/ | hike |
I (i) | /i/ | feet |
J (j) | /j/ | yellow |
K (k) | /k/ | key |
L (l) | /l/ | lollipop |
Ł (ł) | /w/ | will |
M (m) | /m/ | more |
N (n) | /n̪/ | night |
Ń (ń) | /ɲ̟/ | canyon |
O (o) | /ɔ/ | dog |
Ó (ó) | /u/ | good |
P (p) | /p/ | parrot |
R (r) | /r/ | similar to the sound written as R in many languages |
S (s) | /s̪/ | snake |
Ś (ś) | /ɕ/ | sheep |
T (t) | /t̪/ | start |
U (u) | /u/ | food |
W (w) | /w/ | vow |
Y (y) | /ɘ̟/ | bit |
Z (z) | /z̪/ | zebra |
Ź (ź) | /ʑ/ | vision (alveolo-palatal) |
Ż (ż) | /ʐ/ | vision |
The Polish language also has 7 digraphs.
Let us take a look at their pronunciation.
CH | halloween |
CZ | challenge |
DZ | lads |
DŹ | jealous |
DŻ | adjust |
RZ | treasure |
SZ | shadow |
LETTERS AND EXAMPLES IN POLISH ALPHABET
Let’s take a closer look at the Polish alphabet and the letters when they appear:
- at the beginning,
- in the middle
- and at the end of the words.
(some letters do not appear in all 3 cases)
A (a) | ALFABET | PORANEK | KORONA | /alphabet, morning, crown |
Ą (ą) | BRĄZOWY | CHCĄ | /brown, they want | |
B (b) | BIEGAĆ | GRABIE | KLUB | /to run, rake, club |
C (c) | CUKIEREK | PRACA | KAC | /candy, job, hangover |
Ć (ć) | ĆMA | ZAĆMA | IŚĆ | /moth, cataract, to go |
D (d) | DOM | BUDOWAĆ | GRAD | /house, to build, hail |
E (e) | EKIERKA | WIEM | NIE | /set square, I know, not |
Ę (ę) | FALA | GĘSTY | LUBIĘ | /thick, I like |
F (f) | FALA | RAFA | KLIF | /wave, reef, cliff |
G (g) | GÓRY | MOGĘ | RÓG | /mountains, I can, horn |
H (h) | HAK | BOHATER | DRUH | /hook, hero, comrade |
I (i) | IGŁA | MIŁY | DRZWI | /needle, nice, door |
J (j) | JABŁKO | PAJĄK | MÓJ | /apple, spider, my |
K (k) | KOLOR | POLSKI | JAK | /colour, Polish, how |
L (l) | LODY | MALINA | BAL | /ice cream, raspberry, ball |
Ł (ł) | ŁÓDŹ | MAŁY | WAŁ | /boat, small, embankment |
M (m) | MATKA | KAMIEŃ | DAM | /mother, stone, I will give |
N (n) | NOC | MANIAK | KOKON | /night, maniac, cocoon |
Ń (ń) | /ɲ̟/ | SŁOŃCE | WOŃ | /sun, aroma |
O (o) | OKULISTA | MORZE | DZIECKO | /oculist, sea, child |
Ó (ó) | ÓSMY | BÓL | /8th, pain | |
P (p) | PALEC | GŁUPI | TELESKOP | /finger, stupid, telescope |
R (r) | ROBIĆ | BARDZO | DAR | /to do, very, gift |
S (s) | SUKIENKA | MASAŻ | MUS | /dress, massage, mousse |
Ś (ś) | ŚLIWKA | MAŚĆ | KTOŚ | /plum, ointment, somebody |
T (t) | TAK | PŁYTA | KOT | /yes, disc, cat |
U (u) | UL | KULA | TABU | /hive, sphere, taboo |
W (w) | WIR | ZABAWKA | KREW | /moil, toy, blood |
Y (y) | YETI | DYM | PALMY | /yeti, smoke, palms |
Z (z) | ZEBRA | DZWONEK | RAZ | /zebra, bell, once |
Ź (ź) | ŹREBAK | DŹWIG | MAŹ | /foal, crane, slime |
Ż (ż) | ŻABA | WAŻKA | JEŻ | /frog, dragonfly, hedgehog |
DIFFERENCES IN POLISH LANGUAGE
Let’s look at the most important differences between the English and Polish alphabet and try to learn them.
- The Polish language has 8 vowel sounds.
- The English language has 22 vowel sounds.
- There is no English equivalent of any of the Polish vowels.
- The Polish language has no weak vowels.
- Polish words with double consonants are difficult to pronounce for English speakers, as they tend to treat them as one consonant. /horror, lasso…/
TEST YOUR TONGUE WITH POLISH LANGUAGE
Before you start, look at the Polish alphabet once again and try to remember the right pronunciation.
TASK 1.
Read the lines 4 times, starting slowly and ending up reading them as fast as you can.
Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R
K C G G K C G G K C G G K C G G K C G G
Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y
U O Ó W U O Ó W U O Ó W U O Ó W
B P P T B P P T B P P T B P P T B P P T
Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I
TASK 2.
Play your favourite song and try to sing the Polish alphabet to its melody.
(Don’t miss this task, we can hear you;) )
TASK 3.
Solve a test in order to check if you remember the most important information about the Polish alphabet and the right pronunciation.
- ………………………….. is a different name for ALPHABET.
• Abecede
• Abecadło
• Abededeło
- The Polish alphabet ……..is based on the Latin alphabet.
• Is
• Isn’t
- Which letters have the same pronunciation?
• S and Ś
• U and Ó
• Ż and Ź
- Which sentence is correct?
• The Polish language has 8 vowel sounds and the English language has 23 vowel sounds.
• The Polish language has 6 vowel sounds and the English language has 22 vowel sounds.
• The Polish language has 8 vowel sounds and the English language has 22 vowel sounds.
• The Polish language has 6 vowel sounds and the English language has 23 vowel sounds.
- The Polish language has no weak vowels.
• true
• false
