The Polish alphabet and pronunciation: 32 letters, ą, ę, sz, cz, rz
Published 29 October 2026
The Polish alphabet has 32 letters. Nine of them carry diacritics: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż. Q, v and x appear only in foreign words and are not part of the basic alphabet. On top of that come the digraphs — two letters for one sound: ch, cz, dz, dź, dż, rz, sz.
In short
- The order: a ą b c ć d e ę f g h i j k l ł m n ń o ó p r s ś t u w y z ź ż.
- One sound, two spellings: ó and u, ż and rz, h and ch. They sound the same; which one a word takes has to be learnt with the word.
- Stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable: PRA-ca, ję-ZY-ka, u-ni-wer-SY-tet.
Which letters are in the Polish alphabet?
In order: a ą b c ć d e ę f g h i j k l ł m n ń o ó p r s ś t u w y z ź ż. Letters with marks have their own place in a dictionary: "ą" comes after "a", "ó" after "o", so "troska" comes before "trójka".
How do you read the letters English does not have?
| Letter | Sound | Example | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| ą | [ɔ̃] | są, wąski | a nasal "o", as in French bon |
| ę | [ɛ̃] | język, idę | a nasal "e"; at the end of a word often a plain "e" |
| ó | [u] | góra, mówić | the same as "u" — oo in food |
| ł | [w] | łyżka, był | English w, as in water |
| ć / ci | [t͡ɕ] | ćma, ciepło | a soft ch, softer than cheese |
| ś / si | [ɕ] | środa, siostra | a soft sh |
| ź / zi | [ʑ] | źle, zima | a soft zh |
| ń / ni | [ɲ] | koń, nie | ny, as in canyon |
| ż / rz | [ʐ] | żaba, rzeka | s in pleasure |
| c | [t͡s] | córka, noc | ts in cats — never k |
| w | [v] | woda, wino | English v |
| y | [ɨ] | syn, ryba | between i in bit and u in put |
| h / ch | [x] | herbata, chleb | ch in Scottish loch |
Before a vowel, softness is spelt with "i": ciepło, siostra, zima, nie — not ćepło, śostra. At the end of a word and before a consonant you write the accent: koń, ćma, środa.
Digraphs: cz, sz, dz, dź, dż
| Letter | Sound | Example | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| cz | [t͡ʂ] | czas, często | ch in church, harder |
| sz | [ʂ] | szkoła, kasza | sh in shop, harder |
| dz | [d͡z] | dzwon, bardzo | ds in beds |
| dź / dzi | [d͡ʑ] | dźwięk, dziecko | a soft j, as in jeep |
| dż | [d͡ʐ] | dżem, dżungla | j in jam, harder |
"Cz" and "ć", "sz" and "ś", "ż" and "ź" are different sounds: "czas" and "ciasto", "szum" and "śmiech". Whoever says them alike mixes up the spelling too.
Where does the stress fall?
Usually on the second-to-last syllable: POL-ska, je-STEM, eg-za-MI-nu. There are few exceptions — some words of Greek and Latin origin and past-tense forms in -śmy, -ście: ro-BI-liś-my in careful speech.
The oral exam
The state exam's oral part is described in the state oral exam, telc's in the telc oral: how it is marked. In the written part "ó" and "u", "rz" and "ż" sound the same, so the spelling has to be learnt with the word.