GRAMATYKA

POLSKA
WYMOWA ~ PRONUNCIATION

Polish Alphabet
International
American
Letter
American English Example
Phonetic
English
Alphabet
Approximation

Polish Example

Aa

ah

as in father



on

(nasal vowel) as in the French

s (they are)
word bon

Bb

as in boy

banan (banana)

Cc

ts

as in bats or as in notes

noc (night)

robi (to do)

fala (wave)

ch

soft/palatalized (tongue
against roof of mouth), as in
cheer (same pronunciation as
"ci")

Dd

as in dog

dobry (good)

Ee

eh

as in met

tekst (text)

(nasal vowel) as in the French

word fin; when "" is the final
jzyk (language)
letter of a word it tends to be
pronounced like "e"



en

Ff

as in fun

fajka (pipe)

Gg

as in good

gra (mountain)

Hh

kh

as in the Scottish word loch

(same pronunciation as "ch")

handel (commerce)

Copyright 2007 Sadowska Languages. All rights reserved.

www.sadowska.com

Ii

ee

as in see

lis (fox)

Jj

as in yes

jutro (tomorrow)

Kk

as in kite

krlik (rabbit)

Ll

as in last

lampa (lamp)

pronounced approximately
like the English letter "w"

may (small)

Mm

as in may

mapa (map)

Nn

as in no

noc (night)

ni

as in onion (same
pronunciation as "ni")

ko (horse)

Oo

as in no

noga (leg)

oo

as in cool (same
pronunciation as "u")

smy (eighth)

Pp

as in pan

praca (work)

Qq

only in foreign words, as in

status quo

Quo vadis? (a novel

by Henryk
Sienkiewicz)

Rr

as in room

rano (morning)

Ss

as in sit

sobota (Saturday)

soft/palatalized (tongue
against roof of mouth), as in
sheet (same pronunciation as
"si")

roda (Wednesday)

as in tap

tam (there)

as in cool (same
pronunciation as "")

ulica (street)

sh

Tt

Uu

oo

Copyright 2007 Sadowska Languages. All rights reserved.

www.sadowska.com
2

Vv

only in foreign words, as in

via

via, vice versa

Ww

as in van

wino (wine)

Xx

ks

only in foreign words, as in

Pax Romana

Pax Romana

Yy

ih

as in whim

syn (son)

Zz

as in zoo

zupa (soup)

pno (late)

ycie (life)

zh

soft/palatalized (tongue
against roof of mouth), as in
Indonesia (same
pronunciation as "zi")

zh

hard/unpalatalized, as in
measure

Other Letter Combinations

Letters

ch

American
International
American English Example
Phonetic
English
Alphabet Approximation

Polish Example

kh

as in the Scottish word loch

(same pronunciation as "h")

chleb (bread)

ciao (body)

ci

ch

soft/palatalized (tongue
against roof of mouth), as in
cheer (same pronunciation as
"")

cz

t

ch

hard/unpalatalized, as in chair

czas (time)

dz

dz

as in pads

dzwon (bell)

dzi

soft/palatalized, as in jeans
(same pronunciation as "d")

dziecko (child)

soft/palatalized, as in jeans
(same pronunciation as "dzi")

dwik (sound)

Copyright 2007 Sadowska Languages. All rights reserved.

www.sadowska.com
3

d
ni

rz

d

hard/unpalatalized, as in jam
(mainly found in words of
foreign origin)

dem (jam)

ni

as in onion (same
pronunciation as "")

niebo (sky)

zh

hard/unpalatalized, as in
measure (same pronunciation
as ""); note: on rare occasion
morze (sea)
the "r" and "z" are pronounced
separately (marzn - to
freeze)

si

sh

soft/palatalized (tongue
against roof of mouth), as in
sheet (same pronunciation as
"")

sz

sh

hard/unpalatalized, as in show szynka (ham)

zh

soft/palatalized (tongue
against roof of mouth), as in
zielony (green)
Indonesia (same pronunciation
as "")

zi

Copyright 2007 Sadowska Languages. All rights reserved.

www.sadowska.com
4

siedem (seven)