How many people speak Polish?

Nowadays, over 50 million people can speak Polish language. Of course most of them live in Poland but other speaking communities can also be found in USA, Canada, Great Britain, Israel, Argentina, Brasil and Belarus.

First Polish sentence

For the first time written Polish sentence appeared in 1136.  “ay ut ia pobrusa a ti poziwai (I’ll grind [the corn] in the quern and you’ll rest)”, which appeared in Ksiega henrykowska in 1270. In Modern Polish spelling that sentence is “daj ać ja pobruszę, a ty poczywaj”.

How hard is Polish language?

It’s a common known fact that Polish language is very hard, mainly because of pronunciation, complex gender system, seven cases, aspect as a grammatical category of the verb .

But the most hardest thing for foreigners are the “digraphs” like cz, ch, sz, rz, dz, dż and dź. Also in our alphabet we have 9 letter that you won’t find in any other alphabet. They are: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń ó, ś, ż, ż.

Even Poles have problem with this sentence:

“W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie i Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie.”

Which means:

“In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reed, for which Szczebrzeszyn is famous.”

Basic and useful Polish phrases

We prepared for you some basic Polish phrases so you stay in Poland will be much easier for you!

Dzień dobry – Good day, Good morning

Dobry wieczór – Good evening

Dobranoc – Good night

Hej – Hey

Cześć – Hi

Na zdrowie! – Cheers/ Bless you!

Mam na imię Robert – My name is Robert

Która jest godzina? – What time is it?

Jak się masz? – How are you?

Jak się macie? – How are you? (for more people).

Czy może Pan powtórzyć? – Can you repeat please? (when talking to a man)

Czy może Pani powtórzyć? – Can you repeat please? (when talking to a woman)

Rozumiem – I understand

Nie rozumiem – I don’t understand.

Dziękuje bardzo – Thank you very much.

Jestem głodny – I’m hungry.

Rachunek poproszę – The bill, please.

Gdzię znajdę coś do jedzenia – Where can I find something to eat?

Gdzie znajdę toaletę? – Where can I find the bathroom?

Nie wiem – I don’t know

Nie mówię po polsku. – I don’t speak Polish

Miłego dnia – Have a nice day

Ile to kosztuje? – How much is this?

Proszę mnie zostawić w spokoju! (frm) – Go away!
Zostaw mnie w spokoju! (inf) – Go away!

Nie czuję się dobrze – I don’t feel well

And what is the hardest Polish word/sentence for you? Share in the comments!

Also you are welcome to visit our Instagram account. You can find Polish word everyday there: https://www.instagram.com/pepehousing/