The Polish Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Special Characters & more

Q: How many letters are in the Polish alphabet?

The Polish alphabet consists of 32 letters , including 23 basic Latin letters and 9 special accented characters (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż).

Q: What are those special Polish letters and how do you pronounce them?

Polish has some super cool special letters ! Here's how they work: Nasal vowels: • ą - sounds like "on" in French (nasal "a") • ę - sounds like "en" in French (nasal "e") Special consonants: • ć, ń, ś, ź - soft versions of c, n, s, z • ł - sounds like English "w" (not "l"!) • ż - sounds like "zh" in "pleasure" These aren't just decorations - they completely change how words sound and mean !

Q: Where is Polish spoken and by how many people?

Polish is spoken by about 45 million people around the world: • Poland - about 38 million native speakers • United States - large Polish-American communities • United Kingdom - significant Polish immigration • Germany, Lithuania, Belarus - neighboring countries with Polish speakers • Canada, Australia - Polish diaspora communities It's the second most spoken Slavic language after Russian!

Q: Is Polish really as hard to learn as people say?

Polish has a reputation for being tough , but here's the real deal: The challenging parts: • 7 different cases - words change endings based on their role • Complex consonant clusters - lots of consonants together • Special letters - 9 unique characters to learn The easier parts: • Phonetic spelling - you read exactly what's written • Logical stress - usually on the second-to-last syllable • No articles - no "a", "an", or "the" to worry about! With consistent practice , Polish is totally learnable!

Q: How do you type Polish letters on a keyboard?

Great question! There are several ways to type Polish letters: Polish keyboard layout: • Switch your computer to Polish QWERTY • Use Right Alt + letter for special characters Alt codes (Windows): • Hold Alt and type numbers on numpad • Example: Alt + 0185 = ą Mobile devices: • Hold and press base letters to see Polish options • Add Polish keyboard in settings Pro tip: Polish programmers keyboards make it super easy!

The Polish alphabet consists of 32 letters^[1], including the 23 basic Latin letters plus 9 special accented characters. The alphabet includes 9 vowels and 23 consonants. Polish uses several distinctive diacritical marks, including the ogonek (tail) as in ą and ę, the kreska (acute accent) as in ć, ń, ó, ś, and ź, and the unique crossed l (ł) and dotted z (ż). This writing system has been used for Polish since the Middle Ages and is essential for proper pronunciation and meaning in the Polish language, which is spoken by nearly 97% of Poland's citizens^[2] and recognized as a minority language in several neighboring countries^[3].

Polish Vowels (Uppercase)

Polish Vowels (Lowercase)

Polish Consonants (Uppercase)

[Be]

[Ce]

[Cie]

[De]

[Ef]

[Gie]

[Ha]

[Jot]

[Ka]

[El]

[Eł]

[Em]

[En]

[Eń]

[Pe]

[Er]

[Es]

[Eś]

[Te]

[Wu]

[Zet]

[Źet]

[Żet]

Polish Consonants (Lowercase)

[be]

[ce]

[cie]

[de]

[ef]

[gie]

[ha]

[jot]

[ka]

[el]

[eł]

[em]

[en]

[eń]

[pe]

[er]

[es]

[eś]

[te]

[wu]

[zet]

[źet]

[żet]

A a

Ą ą

B b

C c

Ć ć

D d

E e

Ę ę

F f

G g

H h

I i

J j

K k

L l

Ł ł

M m

N n

Ń ń

O o

Ó ó

P p

R r

S s

Ś ś

T t

U u

W w

Y y

Z z

Ź ź

Ż ż

[zero]

[jeden]

[dwa]

[trzy]

[cztery]

[pięć]

[sześć]

[siedem]

[osiem]

[dziewięć]

Polish Accented Vowels (Lowercase)

[a ogonek]

[e ogonek]

[o acute]

Polish Accented Vowels (Uppercase)

[A ogonek]

[E ogonek]

[O acute]

;

–

—

(

)

[

]

{

}

€

zł

How many letters are in the Polish alphabet?

What are those special Polish letters and how do you pronounce them?

Where is Polish spoken and by how many people?

Is Polish really as hard to learn as people say?

How do you type Polish letters on a keyboard?

References:

[1] Ethnologue. "Polish Language (POL) - L1 & L2 Speakers, Status, Map". Retrieved from https://www.ethnologue.com/language/pol/
[2] Statistics Poland. "Official demographic and linguistic statistics". Retrieved from https://stat.gov.pl/en/
[3] Polish Government Act of 6 January 2005. "National and ethnic minorities and regional languages". Official law on language minorities and regional languages (URL no longer accessible)