100 Essential Polish Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Polish	Type
hello	cześć	interjection
goodbye	do widzenia	interjection
yes	tak	interjection
no	nie	interjection
please	proszę	interjection
thank you	dziękuję	interjection
sorry	przepraszam	interjection
and	i	conjunction
but	ale	conjunction
or	lub	conjunction
because	ponieważ	conjunction
here	tutaj	adverb
there	tam	adverb
always	zawsze	adverb
never	nigdy	adverb
together	razem	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Polish	Type
man	mężczyzna	noun
woman	kobieta	noun
boy	chłopiec	noun
girl	dziewczynka	noun
friend	przyjaciel	noun
mother	matka	noun
father	ojciec	noun
brother	brat	noun
sister	siostra	noun
son	syn	noun
daughter	córka	noun
child	dziecko	noun
husband	mąż	noun
wife	żona	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Polish	Type
to be	być	verb
to have	mieć	verb
to do	robić	verb
to go	iść	verb
to come	przychodzić	verb
to eat	jeść	verb
to drink	pić	verb
to want	chcieć	verb
to need	potrzebować	verb
to know	wiedzieć	verb
to speak	mówić	verb
to read	czytać	verb
to write	pisać	verb
to listen	słuchać	verb
to work	pracować	verb
to buy	kupować	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Polish	Type
good	dobry	adjective
bad	zły	adjective
new	nowy	adjective
old	stary	adjective
young	młody	adjective
tall	wysoki	adjective
short	niski	adjective
nice	miły	adjective
kind	życzliwy	adjective
shy	nieśmiały	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Polish	Type
red	czerwony	adjective
blue	niebieski	adjective
green	zielony	adjective
yellow	żółty	adjective
black	czarny	adjective
white	biały	adjective
orange	pomarańczowy	adjective
purple	fioletowy	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Polish	Type
one	jeden	number
two	dwa	number
three	trzy	number
four	cztery	number
five	pięć	number
six	sześć	number
seven	siedem	number
eight	osiem	number
nine	dziewięć	number
ten	dziesięć	number
zero	zero	number
twenty	dwadzieścia	number

Time

10 words

English	Polish	Type
today	dzisiaj	adverb
tomorrow	jutro	adverb
yesterday	wczoraj	adverb
morning	poranek	noun
afternoon	popołudnie	noun
evening	wieczór	noun
night	noc	noun
day	dzień	noun
week	tydzień	noun
month	miesiąc	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Polish	Type
water	woda	noun
coffee	kawa	noun
tea	herbata	noun
milk	mleko	noun
bread	chleb	noun
cheese	ser	noun
fruit	owoc	noun
apple	jabłko	noun
egg	jajko	noun
rice	ryż	noun

Home

4 words

English	Polish	Type
house	dom	noun
door	drzwi	noun
window	okno	noun
bed	łóżko	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Polish words for good

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A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Polish words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Polish

Polish vocabulary by topicLonger word lists, one topic at a time Polish quizTest yourself on what you have learned Polish vocabulary testFind your level How long does Polish take to learn?A realistic plan

Polish for beginners questions

What are the first Polish words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Polish that means words like cześć (hello), dziękuję (thank you), woda (water) and jeść (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Polish written?

Polish uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 46 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Polish?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Polish words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.