Numbers and counting in Polish
57 words in Polish on the topic “numbers and counting”: jeden — one, dwa — two, trzy — three, cztery — four.
57 words on the topic
- jedenoneChanges with gender: jeden chleb, jedna kawa, jedno piwo. Counting in Polish has its own grammar.
- dwatwoChanges with gender too: dwa chleby, but dwie kawy for the feminine. About men one says dwóch panów — people are counted in their own special way.
- trzythreeone burst: "tshih" — the three opening consonants are said together
- czteryfourThe cz is one sound, the ch of "church". Consonant clusters in Polish are the norm, not a typo.
- pięćfivesaid "pyentch" — the nasal ę softens the p
- sześćsixsaid "sheshch"
- siedemsevenCloser in shape to "seventh" than to "seven" — which makes it harder to mix up with osiem.
- osiemeightInside hides the make-up: osiem is o plus siem. The ordinal is ósmy with an ó — "eight" and "eighth" are spelled differently.
- dziewięćninesaid "DZYE-vyench" — a nasal ę at the end
- dziesięćtensaid "DZYE-shench"
- jedenaścieelevenFrom jeden na dziesięć, "one on ten", the phrase pulled tight into -naście. Like every number from five up, it puts the next noun into its of-form: jedenaście euro only hides this because euro never changes.
- dwanaścietwelveFrom dwa, and the noun after it takes the of-form too: dwanaście miesięcy — twelve months, a whole year. Squeezing "on ten" into -naście is the rule for the whole series.
- trzynaściethirteenFrom trzy. The whole series up to nineteen is built the same way, and the numbers barely decline. Age is given exactly like this: mam trzynaście lat.
- czternaściefourteenFrom cztery whole, nothing falls out — and nothing needs to. The longest word in the series.
- piętnaściefifteenFrom pięć, and the nasal ę in the middle is audible. A quarter of an hour has its own word, kwadrans, but the time will still be given as a number: piętnaście minut.
- szesnaściesixteenFrom sześć, and the ć in the middle has pulled in: sześć became szes-. That is the norm, not a typo.
- siedemnaścieseventeenFrom siedem, and it reads exactly the way it is spelled — unlike szesnaście. Like every number from five up, it wants the of-form plural after it: siedemnaście minut, not minuty.
- osiemnaścieeighteenFrom osiem. At eighteen a Pole gets the vote and a dowód osobisty — the ID card the paperwork lessons talk about. Coming of age works the same way here.
- dziewiętnaścienineteenThe last of the -naście series. Next come the tens in -dzieści, built differently — they live in the lesson about tens.
- dwadzieściatwentyNot dwadzieść: the final -ść has contracted. Compounds are simply two words: dwadzieścia jeden — twenty-one.
- trzydzieścithirtyHere the -dzieści does not contract — unlike dwadzieścia. Compounds are plain: trzydzieści pięć — thirty-five, in the same order as in English.
- czterdzieścifortyFrom cztery, nothing lost — even if the ear hears "shter-DZYESH-chee". Polish never grew an odd one-out for this number the way some languages did: the series is regular, and that is a gift.
- pięćdziesiątfiftyWritten pięć-dziesiąt but said almost as one word. The nasal ą at the end lives on paper only. The city speed limit is exactly this number.
- sześćdziesiątsixtyWritten with a nasal ą that the ear does not hear. Spelling and speech part ways gently — and numbers are the case where the ear is smarter than the eye.
- siedemdziesiątseventyFrom siedem, heard as "shyeh-DEM-DZESH-shont". The seventies as a decade are lata siedemdziesiąte — grandmothers tell them better than textbooks.
- osiemdziesiąteightyFrom osiem. No leading letter the way some Slavic neighbors stretch the word — said "oh-SEM-DZESH-shont", it takes a moment to recognize.
- dziewięćdziesiątninetyRegular, straight from dziewięć — other languages bent this number, and Polish logic here is pure gain. In speech the ć goes quiet.
- stohundredNo "one" in front: a hundred is simply sto. Bigger hundreds are one word each — dwieście, trzysta, czterysta, pięćset. And the whole of Poland sings Sto lat at birthdays.
- tysiącthousandA proper noun with its own forms: dwa tysiące, pięć tysięcy. The noun after it takes the of-form plural; in tysiąc euro you just cannot see it, because euro never changes.
- milionmillionOne l, and spelled the way it sounds. A masculine noun: dwa miliony, pięć milionów. Warsaw is nearly one — and at rush hour you can hear it.
- zerozeroThe same word means "nothing": zero problemów — "zero problems". At the stadium the score is read dwa do zera — "two to zero", and after do you hear zero turn into zera.
- pierwszyfirstOrdinals agree in gender: pierwszy dzień, pierwsza kawa, pierwsze okno. Twenty-first has to be wrangled — that belongs to the tens lesson.
- drugisecondThe same word means "other": drugi raz is both "a second time" and "another time". Feminine druga, neuter drugie — the double duty is built in.
- trzecithirdThe ordinal of trzy, and the middle is heard with a soft ch: "TSHEH-shchee". Feminine trzecia, neuter trzecie. From here on the series behaves: czwarty, piąty, szósty.
- ostatnilastBoth "last" and "final": ostatni autobus — the last bus, and it is better not to miss it. Its pair is pierwszy.
- ilehow muchOn its own it is the shortest question going: Ile? — "how much?". Price uses the familiar ile to kosztuje, age uses ile masz lat?. There is no separate word for "many times": ile razy? — "how many times".
- paracouple, pairA pair of shoes is para butów; a married couple is also para. And in speech para dni means simply "a few days" — nobody counts to two there.
- sztukapiece, unitThe shop word, doing the job of English "pieces": dwie sztuki — "two of them". Art is sztuka too — the same word: to a Pole, art is "a thing made".
- procentpercentThe Latinism recognizes itself: procent. Discounts say rabat 20 procent — and it is counted honestly.
- każdyeach, everyAgrees like an adjective: każdy dzień, każda kawa, każde okno. After it always the singular — even when two of you are talking.
- dwieścietwo hundredOne word, not "two hundred" said in two: the two hundreds are glued into dwieście, and the soft ć at the end is heard almost as a "tsh". After it the series behaves: trzysta, czterysta.
- trzystathree hundredTrzy plus sto, nothing lost. Bigger numbers assemble the same way as the tens: trzysta trzydzieści dwa — three hundred thirty-two.
- czterystafour hundredOnly the ending changes from cztery — the word is recognizable at first sight. After the hundreds, as after five, the next noun takes its of-form: czterysta miejsc.
- pięćsetfive hundredPięć plus set, and the nasal ę sneaked in here too — a Pole says it through the nose, but you recognize the word at once. Written as one word.
- sześćsetsix hundredThree s in a row, and it is not a typo: sześć plus set. A Pole does not separate them — one long "sss" is drawn out.
- siedemsetseven hundredNothing falls out of siedem here — unlike the ten siedemdziesiąt, where the word bends. Two plain parts in a row.
- osiemseteight hundredNo losses here either: osiem plus set. But in the ordinal ósmy the e does drop — compare it when you get there.
- dziewięćsetnine hundredThe hardest hundred for the ear: a nasal ę and a soft ć tied together. After it comes tysiąc, "thousand" — no more hundreds to learn.
- czwartyfourthAn adjective, not a number: it agrees in gender — czwarty raz, czwarta klasa. Thursday is czwartek, the same root.
- piątyfifthThe nasal ą goes through the nose, but the word is honest: piąty raz — the fifth time. Friday is piątek, the same root.
- szóstysixthThe ó is heard as "oo": "SHOOS-tih". Saturday really is the sixth day of the week counting from Monday — the order adds up.
- siódmyseventhThe e of siedem drops out: siedem became siódmy. The same will happen with osiem → ósmy — both ordinals are shorter than their numbers.
- ósmyeighthOsiem without the e and with ó instead of o: said "OOS-mih". In dates the ordinal changes with the case: ósmego marca — on the eighth of March.
- dziewiątyninthFrom dziewięć — the nasal ę again, and a dropped e. Seventh, eighth and ninth are pressed from one mold: the number minus e plus the ordinal ending.
- dziesiątytenthFrom dziesięć. Onward the series assembles the same way, number plus ending: jedenasty, dwudziesty — and setny is already in this lesson.
- setnyhundredthFrom sto. Not to be confused with shares: a hundredth part is procent; setny is strictly the order — setny widz, the hundredth viewer.
- liczbanumberFrom liczyć, "to count". A phone number is numer; liczba is a number in the counting sense.
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Jedna kawa i jedna woda, proszęOne coffee and one water, please
- Proszę dwa chlebyTwo loaves of bread, please
- Czekam już trzy godzinyI have already been waiting for three hours
- Stolik dla czterech, proszęA table for four, please
- Pociąg odjeżdża za pięć minutThe train leaves in five minutes
- Wstaję o szóstejI get up at six
What is worth knowing about these words
jeden — one. Changes with gender: jeden chleb, jedna kawa, jedno piwo. Counting in Polish has its own grammar.
dwa — two. Changes with gender too: dwa chleby, but dwie kawy for the feminine. About men one says dwóch panów — people are counted in their own special way.
trzy — three. The opening trz frightens only the eye: it is pronounced in one go. After trzy the noun stands in the plain plural.
cztery — four. The cz is one sound, the ch of "church". Consonant clusters in Polish are the norm, not a typo.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Polish?
Changes with gender: jeden chleb, jedna kawa, jedno piwo. Counting in Polish has its own grammar.
- How do you say “eight” in Polish?
Inside hides the make-up: osiem is o plus siem. The ordinal is ósmy with an ó — "eight" and "eighth" are spelled differently.
- How do you say “fifteen” in Polish?
From pięć, and the nasal ę in the middle is audible. A quarter of an hour has its own word, kwadrans, but the time will still be given as a number: piętnaście minut.
- How do you say “forty” in Polish?
From cztery, nothing lost — even if the ear hears "shter-DZYESH-chee". Polish never grew an odd one-out for this number the way some languages did: the series is regular, and that is a gift.
- How do you say “thousand” in Polish?
A proper noun with its own forms: dwa tysiące, pięć tysięcy. The noun after it takes the of-form plural; in tysiąc euro you just cannot see it, because euro never changes.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Polish?
«jeden». Changes with gender: jeden chleb, jedna kawa, jedno piwo. Counting in Polish has its own grammar. It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 57 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.