Polish Numbers & Counting
Numbers are pure survival vocabulary: prices, ages, phone numbers, how many pierogi. The first ten do most of the work, and two of them — trzy and cztery — are good practice for Polish consonant clusters.
One to Ten
| # | Polish | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | jeden | YE-den |
| 2 | dwa | dva |
| 3 | trzy | tshih |
| 4 | cztery | CHTE-rih |
| 5 | pięć | pyench |
| 6 | sześć | sheshch |
| 7 | siedem | SHYE-dem |
| 8 | osiem | O-shem |
| 9 | dziewięć | JE-vyench |
| 10 | dziesięć | JE-shench |
Teens, Tens, and Hundreds
The teens add -naście; the tens vary a little; hundred is sto.
| Polish | English |
|---|---|
| jedenaście, dwanaście, trzynaście | 11, 12, 13 |
| piętnaście, dwadzieścia | 15, 20 |
| trzydzieści, czterdzieści, pięćdziesiąt | 30, 40, 50 |
| sto, dwieście, tysiąc | 100, 200, 1000 |
| dwadzieścia jeden | 21 (twenty one) |
Age and Prices
Two everyday jobs for numbers. Polish states an age with mieć (to have) — like French, you "have" your years:
Ile masz lat? — Mam dwadzieścia lat.
How old are you? — I'm twenty.
Note: Literally 'how many years do you have?' / 'I have twenty years.' Note lat — more on that below.
Ile to kosztuje? — Sto złotych.
How much is it? — A hundred złoty.
Note: kosztuje = 'costs'. The Polish currency is the złoty; sto złotych = 100 złoty.
Counting Changes the Noun
Here's the twist worth spotting early: the noun after a number changes shape depending on the number — exactly why it's dwa lata but pięć lat.
| After… | Noun form | Example (rok = year) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | singular | jeden rok (one year) |
| 2, 3, 4 | nominative plural | dwa / trzy / cztery lata |
| 5 and up | genitive plural | pięć lat, dziesięć lat |
Notice rok → lata → lat: "year" even switches stem. Don't drill the endings yet — just expect the noun to shift, and it will click once you meet the cases.
Numbers at the bakery — tap the speakers to listen:
💬 Buying obwarzanki
Dzień dobry. Ile kosztuje obwarzanek?
Good day. How much is an obwarzanek?
Cztery złote.
Four złoty.
Poproszę dwa obwarzanki i jedną kawę.
Two obwarzanki and one coffee, please.
Proszę. Osiemnaście złotych razem.
Here you are. Eighteen złoty altogether.
Dziękuję!
Thank you!
Common Mistakes
- One noun form for all numbers. Polish counts in three shapes: jeden rok, dwa lata, pięć lat. After 5+ the noun goes genitive plural — pięć złotych, never pięć złote.
- Forgetting jeden agrees. One is an adjective: jeden rok, jedna kawa, jedno piwo.
- Hearing dwanaście as twenty. The teens end in -naście; dwanaście is 12, dwadzieścia is 20. Count aloud daily for a week and the pair separates.
- Translating age with "to be". Polish says Mam trzydzieści lat — "I have thirty years." Jestem trzydzieści is not Polish.
- Skipping złotych at the till. Prices come with the counted form: sto złotych — the bare number sounds abrupt.
What You Can Do Now
You can count to a hundred, buy dwa obwarzanki and jedną kawę with the right forms, understand prices in złoty, and tell anyone your age with mam … lat. Next: put verbs to work with the present tense.