Alphabet ALFABET POLSKI
a, ą, b, c, ć, d, e, ę, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ł, m, n, ń, o, ó, p, r, s, ś, t, u, w, y, z, ź, ż
A, Ą, B, C, Ć, D, E, Ę, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, Ł, M, N, Ń, O, Ó, P, R, S, Ś, T, U, W, Y, Z, Ź, Ż
Go to hear the sounds at the BBC site
In the Polish alphabet there are:
32 letters (LITERY) 9 vowels (SAMOGŁOSKI) and 23 consonants (SPÓŁGŁOSKI)
IMPORTANT: Polish contains 18 special characters:
Ą, ą, Ć, ć, Ę, ę, Ł, ł, Ń, ń, Ó, ó, Ś, ś, Ź, ź, Ż, ż (each letter corresponds to a single sound).
There are also two-letter combinations, each of them representing a single sound:
ch, cz, dz, dź, dż, rz, sz,
bi, chi, ci, dzi, fi, gi, hi, ki, mi, ni, pi, si, wi, zi
examples: chętnie, często, dzwonek, dźwięk, dżem, rzeka, szum, biały, chiacynt, ciepło, dziwny, fiołek, gigant, hipokryta, kiwać, miły, niania, piana, siwy, wiązać, zimno (Go here to listen to the words)
Letters q, v, x are not normally used in Polish, but can be found in some words taken from other languages, e.g., fax, xero.
Most of the letters are easy to write. You will only need to practise ą, ę, ł, Ł (as on the photo of this page).
Syllables/Sylaby: War-sza-wa, Do-bry, Czę-sto-cho-wa
Akcent: second syllable from the end: Częstochowa, Dobry, Dzisiaj, Środa, Alfabet