How to read and say Polish

Alphabet

• 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

Q q and V v are used in foreign words only. X x is used in some historical names too.

Vowels

a

as in father

ą

nasalized vowel, similar to French "an" or "en" [How to pronounce: Nasal vowels]

e

as in bed

ę

nasalized 'e', similar to French "in", like rang [How to pronounce: Nasal vowels]; becomes just a long "e" at the end of words.

i

as in marine

o

as in lot

ó

see u

u

as in boot

y

good approximation sound is myth.

y

As in French je and le and in Dutch rode and witte. Just like the

Consonants

b

as in bed

c

as ts in cats or tz in pretzel

ć

somewhat as in gotcha, pronounced with the tongue touching the front of the palate

d

as in dog

f

as in fun

g

as in go

h

see ch

j

as in yak

k

as in keep

l

as in lead

ł

as in womb

m

as in mother

n

as in nice

ń

as in canyon; sounds just like the Spanish "ñ"

p

as in pig

q

as kw, see k and w respectively (rarely used)

r

no approximate sound in English but try ring

s

as in song

ś

somewhat as in wish

t

as in top

v

see w (rarely used)

w

as in vote

x

as ks, see k and s respectively (rarely used)

z

as in haze

ź

as in seizure

ż

as zh in English loanwords or treasure

Digraphs and trigraphs

ch

as Scots say in loch

ci, dzi, ni, si, zi

as a ć/dź/ń/ś/ź followed by an i

sz

as in shackles

cz

as in witch

rz

usually ż, but the common combination prz is psh

dż

as in John, voiced version of cz

dź

voiced version of ć

szcz

sz + cz is a common combination - just think freshcheese.

How to pronounce

• Emphasis is usually on the penultimate syllable, with only a few exceptions; non-Slavic words, the first and second plural forms of the past and conditional tenses of both aspects and names that end in -sław are stressed on the third-last syllable.
• Devoicing occurs with b, d, g, w, z, ż and voiced digraphs in word endings and consonant clusters. Thus jabłko 'an apple' is really pronounced japko.
• Nasal vowels are really nasal in certain configurations only. Other than that, they are om/on for ą and em/en for ę. To approximate them, say a or e normally and then say the n sound as in the -ing endings. Link those two sounds together and voila you have a nasal vowel.
• Voiceless plosives k, p and t are not aspirated, unlike their English counterparts.
• Ć-Cz, Dź-Dż, Ś-Sz. This is a little more difficult. The English sh/ch sounds are between ś/ć and sz/cz respectively - the former are softer, and the latter are harder. Cz is really just an affricate consisting of t + sz (or t + sh in English). Dź is a voiced ć and dż is a voiced counterpart of cz, so another way to learn cz is to de-voice the J sound you know from John.
• Rolling r is the sound you will most probably never learn. Approximate it with the r you know, whatever it is. Or if you are really determined, read about the alveolar trill and the alveolar flap.

After you know how to pronounce letters and digraphs, just pronounce all letters as you see them.