Polish language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Polish |
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| język polski | ||||
| Native to | Poland ; bordering regions of Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic; along the Belarusian–Lithuanian and Belarusian–Latvian border; Germany, Romania, Israel. See also Polish diaspora. | |||
| Native speakers | 40 million (2007)Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007 | |||
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| Early forms: |
Old Polish
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| Writing system | Latin (Polish alphabet) Polish Braille |
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| Official status | ||||
| Official language in |  Poland European Union
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| Recognised minority language in |  Ukraine Czech Republic Slovakia Serbia Slovenia Hungary Lithuania Latvia Germany |
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| Regulated by | Polish Language Council | |||
| Linguasphere | 53-AAA-cc < 53-AAA-b...-d | |||
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Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is the official language of Poland. It is the most common West Slavic language. It is also the second most spoken Slavic language after Russian.
Polish has been an important language in Central and Eastern Europe for a long time. Today, over 38.5 million people in Poland speak Polish as their first language. Millions more speak it in other countries. This includes parts of Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine. Many Polish speakers also live in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In total, there are over 50 million Polish speakers around the world!
Contents
Polish Letters and Sounds
What letters are different in Polish?
The Polish alphabet uses the Latin alphabet, just like English. However, Polish has 9 special letters that English does not use. These letters look like English letters but have marks above or below them.
In small letters, these 9 are: ą ć ę ł ń ś ó ź ż In capital letters, they are: Ą Ć Ę Ł Ń Ś Ó Ź Ż
Polish does not use three English letters: q, v, and x.
How do Polish letters sound?
Many Polish letters sound the same as in English, like "f" or "m". But some letters sound different. For example, the Polish "w" sounds like an English "v". The Polish "ł" sounds like an English "w". There are also some Polish sounds that are not found in English.
The vowels "ą" and "ę" are special. They are called "nasal" vowels. This means you pronounce them by letting air out of both your nose and mouth at the same time.
Where is the accent in Polish words?
Most Polish words have an accent on the second-to-last part (syllable). For example, the word "student" (which means the same as in English) is said with the accent on "stu" (STU-dent). The plural form, "studenci," has the accent on "den" (stu-DEN-ci).
Polish Dialects
The Polish language has several different ways of speaking, called dialects. However, these dialects are very similar to each other. They are much more alike than dialects in many other European languages. Polish speakers can easily understand each other, no matter which dialect they speak. People who are learning Polish often cannot even tell the differences between them.
Polish Grammar
Polish grammar can seem tricky, especially if you only know English. It has features that are quite different.
Grammatical Gender
Like many other languages, Polish uses grammatical gender. This means that nouns (words for things, people, or places) are grouped into genders. For example, a table (stół) is masculine. A book (książka) is feminine. A window (okno) is neuter.
Word Endings and Cases
Polish nouns, adjectives, and verbs change their endings a lot. These endings depend on how the word is used in a sentence. Polish has 7 different cases. Each case shows the role of a noun in a sentence. The ending of the noun changes for each case, and it also depends on the noun's gender.
Word Order
Because of these changing endings, the order of words in a Polish sentence can be more flexible than in English. In English, "The boy bites the dog" means something very different from "The dog bites the boy." In Polish, you can often change the word order without causing confusion. The endings help you understand who is doing what.
Useful Polish Phrases
Here are some common phrases you might hear or use in Polish:
- Dzień dobry (Dz'yehn DOH-brih) - Good morning or Good afternoon
- Dobry wieczór (DOH-brih v-YETCH-oor) - Good evening
- Do widzenia (doh vee-DZEN-yah) - Good bye
- Cześć! (tsheshch) - Hi, Hello! or Bye
- Tak (tahk) - Yes (In Polish, a simple "Yes" is often enough, unlike English where you might say "Yes, I did.")
- Nie (nyeh) - No or Not (Similarly, a simple "No" is often enough.)
- Jak się masz? (yahk shyeh mahsh) - How are you?
- Co robisz? (tsoh robish) - What are you doing?
- Jak się nazywasz? (YAHK shyeh nahZYvash) or Jak masz na imię? (YAHK mahsh nah EE-myeng/EE-myeh) - What's your name?
- Nazywam się... (nah-ZIH-vahm shyeh) - My (name and) surname is...
- Mam na imię... (mahm nah EE-myeng/EE-myeh) - My (given) name is...
- Nie mówię po polsku (nyeh MOW-vyeng/MOW-vyeh poh POL-skoo) - I do not speak Polish
- Lubię Cię (loo-bee-EH chyeh) - I like you
- Kocham Cię (koh-hahm chyeh) - I love you
- Nie mówię po angielsku (nyeh MOW-vyeng/MOW-vyeh poh ahng-YEL-skoo) - I do not speak English
- Jak dojechać na lotnisko/dworzec (yak do-YEH-khatch nah lot-NEE-sco/dvo-ZHETS) - How do I get to the airport/rail station? (dworzec usually means rail station)
Images for kids
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The Book of Henryków has the earliest known sentence written in Old Polish. It says, Day, ut ia pobrusa, a ty poziwai, which means "let me grind, and you have a rest."
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This is the oldest printed text in Polish. It's from 1475 and was printed in Wrocław.
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The Polish alphabet has 32 letters. The letters Q, V, and X are not used in Polish words.
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A formal sign in Polish. You can see how vowels and consonants are mixed, and how words have different length syllables.
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The Jakub Wujek Bible in Polish, printed in 1599.
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A common handbag in Polish is called a torba. This word comes from the Turkish language. Many Turkish words are in Polish because Poland and the Ottoman Empire were neighbors for centuries.
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This is the original handwritten copy of Pan Tadeusz, a famous Polish poem. It is kept in Wrocław. You can see the author Adam Mickiewicz's signature.
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Olga Tokarczuk (born 1962) is a well-known Polish writer.
See also
In Spanish: Idioma polaco para niños
