Key Polish sounds, soft consonants, nasal vowels, and stress patterns. Front: the Polish letter, word, or sound pattern. Back: meaning plus a plain-English pronunciation note.
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- sz
- Pronounced like English 'sh' in 'shoe', a hard retroflex sound, e.g. in 'szkoła' (school).
- cz
- Pronounced like English 'ch' in 'chip', a hard retroflex sound, e.g. in 'czas' (time).
- ż / rz
- Both pronounced like the 's' in English 'measure', a voiced retroflex sound, e.g. in 'żaba' (frog) or 'rzeka' (river).
- ś
- A soft 'sh' sound, produced with the tongue further forward than sz, similar to a very light 'sh', e.g. in 'środa' (Wednesday).
- ć
- A soft 'ch' sound, produced with the tongue further forward than cz, e.g. in 'ćwiczenie' (exercise).
- ź
- A soft, voiced version of ś, similar to a light 'zh' sound, e.g. in 'źle' (badly).
- ą
- A nasal vowel, pronounced like a nasalized 'o' before most consonants, similar to the French 'on', e.g. in 'są' (they are).
- ę
- A nasal vowel, pronounced like a nasalized 'e', similar to the French 'in', e.g. in 'imię' (name), though it often loses its nasal quality at the end of a word.
- ł
- Pronounced like an English 'w' as in 'water', not like an English 'l', e.g. in 'łatwo' (easily).
- l
- Pronounced like a clear English 'l' as in 'love', distinct from ł, e.g. in 'lato' (summer).
- ń
- A soft, palatalized 'n', similar to the 'ny' in 'canyon', e.g. in 'koń' (horse).
- w
- Pronounced like an English 'v', not like an English 'w', e.g. in 'woda' (water).
- j
- Always pronounced like the English 'y' in 'yes', never like an English 'j', e.g. in 'jajko' (egg).
- c
- Pronounced like the 'ts' in English 'cats', never like an English 'k' or 's' alone, e.g. in 'co' (what).
- dz
- Pronounced as a single voiced sound, like the 'ds' in English 'kids' said quickly, e.g. in 'dzwon' (bell).
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