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Polish Tips (Duolingo) Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Basics 1

Nouns: Gramma­tical cases
* seven gramma­tical cases
Verbs: Present tense
* three basic tenses for indicating past, present and future
Articles
* Polish does not have articles

Basics 2: Pronouns and Conjug­ation

English Pronoun
Polish Pronoun
Example
I
ja
Ja lubie mleko.
you (singular)
ty
Ty lubisz mleko.
he
on
On lubi mleko.
she
ona
Ona lubi mleko.
it
ono
Ono lubi mleko.
we
my
My lubimy mleko.
you (plural)
wy
Wy lubicie mleko.
they (only groups of people including a male)
oni
Oni lubia mleko.
they (all other groups)
one
One lubia mleko.
Oni and one
* One: groups of female persons, groups of neuter persons and groups containing both female and neuter persons
* you always use one when referring to groups of children, animals or objects

Omitting pronouns
* when talking about yourself, you usually skip the ja pronoun, unless you want to emphasize something
* 3rd person pronouns cannot be omitted in sentences where the gender of the pronoun is used to differ­entiate between subjects

Polish Letters

Vowels
letter
Polish example
English approx­imation
IPA
a
tak
cut
[a]
ą
mają
dome / on
[ɔw̃] / [ɔm] / [ɔn]
e
cheb
bed
[ɛ]
ę
mężczyzna
sense
[ɛw̃] / [ɛm] / [ɛn] / [ɛ]
i
oni
meet
[i]
o
mleko
pore
[ɔ]
u/ó
lubię/córka
boot
[u]
y
ty
roses
[ɨ]
 
Consonants
letter(s)
Polish example
English approx­imation
IPA
c
dziecko
cats
[ʦ]
ć
być
cheap
[ʨ]
cz
ciasteczka
chip
[t͡ʂ] / [ʧ]
dz
jedzenie
gods
[ʣ]
dź
niedźwiedź
jeans
[ʥ]
dż
dżem
jam
d͡ʐ] / [ʤ]
h/ch
hak/ch
loch
[x]
j
piję
yes
[j]
ł
chłopiec
will
[w]
ń
kon
onion
[ɲ]
ś
cześć
sheep
[ɕ]
sz
proszę
ship
[ʂ] / [ʃ]
w
mówi
vine
[v]
ź
mężczyźni
vision
[ʑ]
ż/rz
mężczyzna/dobrze
treasure
[ʐ] / [ʒ]
Vocabu­lary: Salutation and farewells
Dzień dobry: formal
Cześć: informal
Do widzenia: formal
pa / pa pa: informal
Dobranoc: Goodbye just before you go to bed

Gender

Masculine nouns:
* usually end in a consonant: chłopiec, kot, ser
* some end in -a: mężczyzna, kolega, artysta

Female nouns:
* tend to end in -a: dziewc­zyna, ryba, kawa

except­ions: mysz, twarz, noc and miłość

Neutral nouns:
* most often end in -o, -e or -ę: dziecko, jedzenie, zwierzę