Days of the Week in Polish
The Polish days are poniedziałek, wtorek, środa, czwartek, piątek, sobota and niedziela, written with a small letter. To say "on Monday", use w and the accusative: w poniedziałek, we wtorek, w środę.
The seven days
The Polish week starts on Monday, and calendars in Poland always begin with poniedziałek. Day names are written with a small letter, unless they start a sentence. The word for "day" is dzień, "week" is tydzień, and "the days of the week" is dni tygodnia.
| Polish | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| poniedziałek | Monday | poh-nyeh-JAH-wek |
| wtorek | Tuesday | FTOH-rek |
| środa | Wednesday | SHROH-dah |
| czwartek | Thursday | CHFAR-tek |
| piątek | Friday | PYON-tek |
| sobota | Saturday | soh-BOH-tah |
| niedziela | Sunday | nyeh-JYEH-lah |
The ł in poniedziałek sounds like English "w". In wtorek and czwartek, the w sounds like "f" because it sits next to a voiceless consonant. Four days are masculine and end in a consonant; three (środa, sobota, niedziela) are feminine and end in -a. That difference matters in the next section.
"On Monday": w poniedziałek, we wtorek
To say "on Monday", use w and the accusative case. Masculine days don't change. Feminine days change -a to -ę. Tuesday takes we instead of w, because "w wtorek" would be impossible to say.
| Polish | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| w poniedziałek | on Monday | f poh-nyeh-JAH-wek |
| we wtorek | on Tuesday | veh FTOH-rek |
| w środę | on Wednesday | f SHROH-deh |
| w czwartek | on Thursday | f CHFAR-tek |
| w piątek | on Friday | f PYON-tek |
| w sobotę | on Saturday | f soh-BOH-teh |
| w niedzielę | on Sunday | v nyeh-JYEH-leh |
For a habit ("on Mondays"), use w with the plural: w poniedziałki, we wtorki, w środy, w czwartki, w piątki, w soboty, w niedziele. You can also say co poniedziałek or w każdy poniedziałek (every Monday).
- W piątek idę do kina.On Friday I'm going to the cinema.
- We wtorek mam spotkanie.I have a meeting on Tuesday.
- W soboty gram w piłkę.On Saturdays I play football.
- Widzimy się w środę wieczorem.See you on Wednesday evening.
From Monday to Friday: the genitive
After od (from) and do (to, until), day names take the genitive case. You see these forms on every shop door and office sign, and you hear them when people say goodbye.
| Day | Genitive | Example |
|---|---|---|
| poniedziałek | poniedziałku | do poniedziałku (see you Monday) |
| wtorek | wtorku | od wtorku (from Tuesday) |
| środa | środy | do środy (until Wednesday) |
| czwartek | czwartku | od czwartku (from Thursday) |
| piątek | piątku | do piątku (until Friday) |
| sobota | soboty | od soboty (from Saturday) |
| niedziela | niedzieli | do niedzieli (until Sunday) |
On signs, days are often shortened: pon., wt., śr., czw., pt., sob., niedz. A typical opening-hours sign reads pon.–pt. 8–20, sob. 9–14.
- Pracuję od poniedziałku do piątku.I work from Monday to Friday.
- Do zobaczenia w poniedziałek!See you on Monday!
- Do piątku!See you Friday!
Weekend, weekdays and days off
| Polish | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| weekend | weekend | WEE-kent |
| w weekend | at the weekend | v WEE-kent |
| dzień powszedni | weekday | jyen pof-SHED-nee |
| dzień roboczy | working day | jyen roh-BOH-chih |
| dzień wolny | day off | jyen VOL-nih |
| święto | public holiday | SHFYEN-toh |
| tydzień | week | TIH-jyen |
Weekend is borrowed from English and is the normal word. It declines like a Polish noun: na weekend (for the weekend), po weekendzie (after the weekend). At the end of the week people say Miłego weekendu! (Have a nice weekend!).
Today, tomorrow, yesterday and more
| Polish | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| dzisiaj / dziś | today | JEE-shai / jeesh |
| jutro | tomorrow | YOO-troh |
| wczoraj | yesterday | FCHOH-rai |
| pojutrze | the day after tomorrow | poh-YOO-tsheh |
| przedwczoraj | the day before yesterday | pshed-FCHOH-rai |
| w ten piątek | this Friday | f ten PYON-tek |
| w przyszły piątek | next Friday | f PSHIH-shwih PYON-tek |
| w zeszły piątek | last Friday | v ZESH-wih PYON-tek |
| za tydzień | in a week | zah TIH-jyen |
| tydzień temu | a week ago | TIH-jyen TEH-moo |
| na co dzień | every day, day to day | nah tsoh jyen |
Dzisiaj and dziś mean the same thing; dziś is a little shorter and more common in writing. You can add a time of day after any of these words: jutro rano (tomorrow morning), wczoraj wieczorem (yesterday evening), w piątek w nocy (on Friday night), w niedzielę po południu (on Sunday afternoon).
- Jaki dzisiaj jest dzień?What day is it today?
- Dzisiaj jest środa.Today is Wednesday.
- Wczoraj był poniedziałek.Yesterday was Monday.
- Wczoraj była sobota.Yesterday was Saturday.
- Do jutra!See you tomorrow!
Notice był and była: in the past tense the verb agrees with the gender of the day. Masculine days take był, feminine days take była.
Where the names come from
The Polish day names are Slavic and easy to remember once you know their story. The week is counted from Sunday, the day of rest, and most names are simply numbers or positions.
| Day | Origin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| niedziela | nie + działać | the day of "not doing", the day without work |
| poniedziałek | po niedzieli | the day after Sunday |
| wtorek | wtóry | an old word for "second" |
| środa | środek | "middle", the middle of the week |
| czwartek | czwarty | "fourth" |
| piątek | piąty | "fifth" |
| sobota | Hebrew shabbat | the Sabbath, via Latin and Greek |
So czwartek is the fourth day and piątek the fifth, counting Monday as the first working day after Sunday. Other Slavic languages have almost the same names, so this set will help you with Czech, Slovak or Ukrainian too.
A few special days are worth knowing. The last Thursday before Lent is tłusty czwartek (Fat Thursday), when everyone eats pączki (doughnuts). Good Friday is Wielki Piątek. Easter Monday is lany poniedziałek, the day people splash each other with water. Religious holidays like Wielki Piątek take capital letters, while folk customs like tłusty czwartek are usually written in lowercase.
Learning the days
Say the day out loud every morning in Polish, then say tomorrow and yesterday. Practise the three forms together: the name, "on" + day, and "until" + day, for example środa, w środę, do środy. Every word on this site has its own page with all its forms, so you can check any case of any day name.