Polish Numbers

Polish numbers are built like English ones: twenty-one is dwadzieścia jeden, tens first, then units. The tricky part is the noun after the number: jeden kot, dwa koty, but pięć kotów.

Numbers 0–20

These are the numbers you need first. Learn them as a block, because everything bigger is built from them. Note the endings: 11 to 19 all end in -naście, which comes from an old phrase meaning "on ten". The stress in these is always on -NAŚ-.

A few sounds to watch. In pięć and dziewięć the letter ę before ć sounds like "en". In trzy, the rz after t sounds like "sh", so the word is close to "tshih". The y in Polish is a short sound like the "i" in English "bit".

Tens, hundreds and thousands

The tens follow a pattern: 20 to 40 end in -dzieści (or -dzieścia for 20), and 50 to 90 end in -dziesiąt. The hundreds have four different endings, so they are worth learning by heart.

Notice that tysiąc itself follows the number rule explained below: dwa tysiące, trzy tysiące, cztery tysiące, but pięć tysięcy, dziesięć tysięcy.

How to build 21–99 and bigger numbers

Polish builds numbers the way English does: tens first, then units, with no word for "and". So 21 is dwadzieścia jeden ("twenty one") and 99 is dziewięćdziesiąt dziewięć. Bigger numbers are just a chain of parts, largest first.

You never say "one hundred" or "one thousand": 100 is just sto and 1,000 is just tysiąc. Also note that Polish writes a comma where English writes a decimal point (2,5 means two and a half), and uses a space to group thousands (10 000).

A few related words are handy: pół (half), półtora (one and a half), para (a pair), and kilka (a few). Three different words translate "number": liczba is a number in maths, numer is a phone, room or bus number, and cyfra is a single digit.

Ordinal numbers: first to tenth

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third) work like adjectives in Polish. The dictionary form below is masculine. For feminine nouns the ending changes to -a, and for neuter nouns to -e: pierwszy dzień (the first day), pierwsza lekcja (the first lesson), pierwsze piętro (the first floor).

You will use ordinals for floors, dates, centuries and school years. In Poland the ground floor is parter, and pierwsze piętro is the floor above it, as in British English.

• Mieszkam na trzecim piętrze.
  I live on the third floor.
• To mój pierwszy raz w Polsce.
  It's my first time in Poland.
• Moja córka jest w drugiej klasie.
  My daughter is in second grade.

The number + noun rule: 1, 2–4, 5+

This is the part that surprises English speakers. In Polish, the form of the noun changes with the number in front of it. There are three groups.

• 1: the noun stays singular, and jeden agrees with its gender: jeden kot, jedna książka, jedno okno.
• 2, 3, 4: the noun is in the normal plural (nominative plural): dwa koty, trzy książki, cztery okna. With feminine nouns, 2 is dwie: dwie książki.
• 5 and up: the noun goes into the genitive plural: pięć kotów, pięć książek, pięć okien.

For bigger numbers, look at the last digit. If it is 2, 3 or 4, use the plural: dwadzieścia dwa koty, sto trzy książki. But the teens are an exception: 12, 13 and 14 take the genitive plural, like 5+: dwanaście kotów, czternaście dni. Any number that ends in 1 (other than 1 itself) also takes the genitive plural: dwadzieścia jeden kotów, never "dwadzieścia jeden kot".

The verb changes too. With 2 to 4 the verb is plural, but with 5 and up it is singular, as if the number were one thing.

• Na stole leżą trzy jabłka.
  There are three apples on the table.
• Na stole leży pięć jabłek.
  There are five apples on the table.
• Mam dwadzieścia dwa lata.
  I'm twenty-two years old.
• Mam trzydzieści pięć lat.
  I'm thirty-five years old.

One more thing you will hear: groups that include men use special number forms, such as dwóch studentów (two students) or pięciu panów (five gentlemen). You don't need to produce these on day one, but now you will recognise them.

Prices in practice

Polish money is the złoty (zł), divided into 100 grosze (gr). Both words follow the number rule, so they are good practice. Złoty declines like an adjective.

A price like 12,99 zł is read in full as dwanaście złotych dziewięćdziesiąt dziewięć groszy. In shops people usually drop the currency words and just say dwanaście dziewięćdziesiąt dziewięć.

• Ile to kosztuje?
  How much does it cost?
• To kosztuje dwadzieścia dwa złote.
  It costs twenty-two złoty.
• Razem czterdzieści dwa złote pięćdziesiąt groszy.
  That's forty-two złoty fifty altogether.
• Poproszę dwa bilety.
  Two tickets, please.
• Płacę kartą.
  I'm paying by card.

Phone numbers

Polish mobile numbers have nine digits and are usually written in three groups: 601 234 567. People normally read them as three three-digit numbers: sześćset jeden, dwieście trzydzieści cztery, pięćset sześćdziesiąt siedem. Some people read them digit by digit instead, which is fine too and easier for learners. The country code +48 is plus czterdzieści osiem, and the emergency number 112 is sto dwanaście.

• Jaki masz numer telefonu?
  What's your phone number?
• Jaki jest pana numer?
  What is your number? (formal, to a man)
• Mój numer to sześćset jeden, dwieście trzydzieści cztery, pięćset sześćdziesiąt siedem.
  My number is 601 234 567.
• Może pan powtórzyć? Wolniej, proszę.
  Could you repeat that? Slower, please. (formal, to a man)

How to practise

Numbers only become automatic with daily use. Read prices aloud in Polish when you shop, say car number plates and bus numbers to yourself, and count things around you with the right noun form. A flashcard deck with audio helps, because the hard part is hearing numbers at normal speed, not reading them. Every word on this site has its own page with all its forms, so you can check the genitive plural of any noun before you count it.