Basic Expressions in Poland

The Poles are usually immensely flattered when visitors make an effort to speak a few words of their difficult language. To many, the Polish language appears at first a daunting hodge-podge of strange consonant clusters and precious few vowels, arranged in words of terrifying length. The basic problem is that the Latin alphabet, which English and Polish share, was not originally designed to cope with Slavic languages. The Poles have had to adapt it to fit their own phonetic system, in some cases using combinations of consonants to denote single sounds, and adding diacritical marks to alter the pronunciation of certain letters.

Nevertheless, in Polish, spelling corresponds to pronunciation far more consistently than in English, while a number of letters - b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t , x and z - have roughly similar phonetic values in both languages. For the other letters, pronunciation identified below.

(Berlitz and other publishers provide inexpensive and useful recordings that reproduce the sounds and rythms of Polish. They also offer comprehensive phrasebooks that are available at most book stores.)

a [a] = a shortened version of the 'a' in 'father'

a [ ] = a nasal vowel, like the 'own' in 'sown'

b [b]

c [ts], ch [x], cz [t¦] = 'ts' in 'cats'; 'h' in 'help'; 'ch' in 'church')

c [tc] = a softer version of the English 'ch'

d [d], dz [dz], dz [dz], dz [d ]= 'd' in 'door'; 'ds' in 'beds'; a softer version of 'j'; 'dg' in 'bridge'

e [e, e] = 'e' in 'bet'

e [e] = a nasal vowel-no equivalent

f [f]

g [g] = 'g' in 'get'; never the 'j' sound

h [x] = weaker form of 'ch' in the Scottish 'loch'

i [i] = 'ee' in 'feet'

j [j] = 'y' in 'yet'

k [k]

l [l]

t [w] = 'w' in 'wet'

m [m]

n [n]

n [h] = 'ny' in 'canyon'

o [ ] = a shorter, clearer form of the 'o' in 'go'

ó [u] = 'oo' in 'hoof''

p [p]

r [r], rz [ , ¦] = always trilled; 's' as in 'measure'

s [s], sz [¦] = 's' in 'set', never as 'z'; 'sh' in 'show'

s [c] = a softer version of the English 'sh'

t [t]

u [u] = a shorter version of the 'oo' in food

w [v] = 'v' in 'vat'

y [i] = a cross between the 'i' in 'sit' and the 'e' in 'set'

z [z] = a softer version of the English 'zh'

z [z]

z [ ] = the 'zh' sound in 'azure'

Some Useful Polish Words And Phrases

English Polish Phonetic

Good morning Dzien dobry jen DOHbri

Good evening Dobry wieczor DOHbri veeAYEchoor

Good night Dobranoc dohBRAHnotes

I am very pleased to meet you Bardzo mi milo BARDSoh me MEwo

Please Prosze PROshah

Thank you Dziekuje jenKOOya

Thank you very much Dziekuje bardzo jenKOOya BARDSoh

Excuse me Przepraszam

Goodbye Dowidzenia dovidZENya

Yes Tak tock

No Nie nye

Do you speak English? Czy pan mowi po chi pahn MOOvee poe

angielsku? onGELskoo?

I do not speak Polish Nie mowie po polsku nye MOOvee poe POLEskoo

I don't know Nie wiem nye VEEem