Shopping & Money in Polish: the Złoty's Three Faces
Polish prices come with a grammar puzzle attached: why is it 1 złoty, 2 złote, but 5 złotych? This lesson buys the big numbers, solves the złoty riddle, and puts your genitive to work by the kilo.
The Big Numbers
The Złoty's Three Faces
The national pattern, worth learning by heart because every number in Polish follows it:
Quantities Take the Genitive
Amounts of something use the case you met at nie ma: kilo sera (a kilo of cheese), litr mleka, dużo czasu (a lot of time), mało cukru (little sugar), trochę wody (a bit of water).
Poproszę kilo sera i litr mleka.
A kilo of cheese and a litre of milk, please.
Note: Both amounts pull the genitive: sera, mleka.
In the Shop
Czy jest chleb? — is there bread? If luck runs out: Nie ma chleba. One thing costs with kosztuje, many with kosztują: Ile kosztują jabłka? Verdicts: tani — cheap, drogi — expensive, za drogie! — too expensive!
Common Mistakes
- pięć złote. From five up it's złotych — the genitive plural, always.
- kilo ser. Quantities demand the genitive: kilo sera.
- Mixing kosztuje/kosztują. One thing kosztuje; apples kosztują.
What You Can Do Now
You can handle real prices, buy by weight and volume, and hear sto pięćdziesiąt złotych without blinking — the market is officially open to you.