Generally about Poland and Polish language

Poland is a democratic country in Central Europe bordered by

Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east, and the Baltic Sea and Russia to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi) and Poland has a population of over 38 million people. The national anthem of Poland is Mazurek Dbrowskiego. To listen to it click here. The capital of Poland is Warsaw. Most Poles are members of the Roman Catholic Church. The longest Polish river is Vistula (Wisa) 1047 km, the highest mountain is Rysy (2449 m.n.p.m.), the biggest city is Warsaw (Warszawa) about 1,8 mln people and 517 sq km and the biggest lake is niadrwy 113.8 square kilometres (43.9 square miles).

The flag of Poland

Poland in Europe
Polish (jzyk polski, polszczyzna) is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Polish is third on the

list of the worlds most difficult languages (just after Chinese and Israeli).

Polish alphabet:
There are 32 letters in the Polish alphabet, including 9 vowels and 23 consonants. A, a (sounds like a in the word Amish) B, b (sounds like b in the word bag) C, c (sounds like ts in the word Tsar) D, d (sounds like d ine the word desk) E, e (sounds like e in the name Elisabeth) F, f (sounds like f in the word afraid) G, g (sounds like g in the word fog) H, h (sounds like h in the word hello) I, i (sounds like ea in the word jeans) J, j (long i sounds like e in word bye) K, k (sounds like c in the word colour) L, l (sounds like l in the word alike) M, m (sounds like m in the word amazing) N, n (sounds like n in the word again) O, o (sounds like a in the word tall) P, p (sounds like p in the word penis)

R, r (sounds like r in the word around) S, s (sounds like s in the word sick) T, t (sounds like t in the word terrified) U, u (sounds like oo in the word pool) W, w (sounds like v in the word love) Y, y (sounds like y in the word itty bitty) Z, z (sounds like z in the word zero) , nasal A, sounds like french bon bon or ow in the word own , sounds like Chinese chi , sounds like el in the word elm , sounds like w in the word wedding , sounds like the word knee , sounds like polish u (pool), it matters only in written polish , sounds like shee in the word sheets , sounds like ge in the word genie , sounds like g in the word mirage In Polish we have something called dwuznaki (double-marks). They sound like one letter with the exception of D(DZI), D and DZ which are read in usual way. CH sounds like a polish h and the differend it matters only in written polish; CZ sounds like ch in the word chocolate RZ sounds like polish and the differend it matters only in written polish SZ sounds like sh in the word gosh

Nouns:
A highly inflected language, Polish retains the Old Slavic case-system with seven cases for nouns, pronouns and adjecitves: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Nominative (mianownik) Genitive (dopeniacz) Dative (celownik) Accusative (biernik) Instrumenal (narzdnik) Locative (miejscownik) Vocative (woacz)

Here are some examples how to say some words in the first three cases. Nominative singular Accusative singular Nominative plural Adjective Noun pies st szafa Adjective Nowego Nowy Now Noun psa st szaf krzeso Adjective Noun Nowe Nowe Nowe Nowe psy stoy szafy student Nowego studenta Nowi

Gender

Meaning

Personal masculine nowy Animate masculine nowy Inanimate masculine nowy Feminine Neuter nowa nowe

studenci "new student(s)" "new dog(s)" "new table(s)" "new wardrobe(s)"

krzeso Nowe

krzesa "new chair(s)"

Verbs:

In Polish, one distinguishes between

three tenses(present, past and future) three moods (indicative, imperative and conditional) three voices (active, passive and reflexive).

Here you can read a conjugation of "by"(to be) in all of the Polish tenses 1. Present tense:

Ja jestem I am Ty jeste You are (familiar singular) On/ona/ono jest He/she/it is My jestemy We are Wy jestecie You are (plural) Oni/one s They are (masculine/feminine) Pan/Pani jest You are (masculine/feminine, singular, polite) Pastwo s You are (plural, both sexes together, polite) Panowie s You are (plural, masculine, polite) Panie s You are (plural, feminine, polite)

2. Past tense:

Ja byem/byam I (masculine/feminine) was Ty bye/bya You (masculine/feminine) were On by/ona bya/ono byo He/she/it was My bylimy/byymy We (masculine/feminine) were Wy bylicie/byycie You (masculine/feminine) were (plural) Oni byli/one byy They (masculine/feminine) were Pan by/Pani bya You were (masculine/feminine, singular, polite) Pastwo byli You were (plural, both sexes together, polite) Panowie byli You were (plural, masculine, polite) Panie byy You were (plural, feminine, polite)

Past tense for verbs is usually made this way, by replacing the infinitive final "-" with "-(+V)". 3. Future tense:

Ja bd I (masculine/feminine) will be Ty bdziesz You (masculine/feminine) will be On/ona/ono bdzie He/she/it will be My bdziemy We (masculine/feminine) will be Wy bdziecie You (masculine/feminine) will be (plural) Oni/one bd They (masculine/feminine) will be Pan/Pani bdzie You will be (masculine/feminine, singular, polite) Pastwo bd You will be (plural, both sexes together, polite) Panowie bd You will be (plural, masculine, polite) Panie bd You will be (plural, feminine, polite)

Basic expressions:
Yes, no Tak, nie Good morning Dzie dobry

Goodbye Do widzenia Hello, hi Cze, siema Bye Pa Thank you, thanks dzikuj, dziki Please - Prosz How are you? Jak si masz? Im fine, thank you Dobrze, dzikuj. And you? A ty? See you! Do zobaczenia! Nice to meet you! Mio byo ci pozna! Take care! Trzymaj si! Have a good time! Baw si dobrze! Excuse me przepraszam My name is, I am Nazywam si, Jestem Whats your name? Jak si nazywasz? What time is is? Ktra jest godzina? Its 10(ten) pm Jest 10(dziesita) wieczorem (22) (dwudziesta druga). What does this mean? Co to znaczy? I live in London Mieszkam w Londynie Where do you live? Gdzie mieszkasz? What nationality are you? Jakiej jeste narodowoci? Im Scotish. Jestem Szkotem. What are you doing now? Co robisz teraz? How old are you? Ile masz lat How much is this bag? Ile kosztuje ta torba? I dont know Nie wiem I dont understand Nie rozumiem I like you Lubi ci I love you Kocham ci

I hate you Nienawidz ci Can I sit here? (Czy) mog tu usi? Well done, bravo! Dobra robota, brawo! Happy birthday! Wszystkiego najlepszego (z okazji urodzin) Merry Christmas and a happy New Year Wesoych wit i szczliwego Nowego Roku! I (dis)agree (Nie) zgadzam si What do you think of - Co sdzisz o I think - Myl, e