Polish Language, History and Culture

Learn Polish Grammar free online

Learn about Poland and the Polish language – The Ultimate online guide

The purpose of this site is to give you a clear, uncluttered free site to learn Polish online with a focus on Polish grammar.

Go to -> Learn Polish grammar for free online.

I am creating professional high quality Polish flashcards. These will be physical, not virtual online flashcards, but real hand drawn Polish flashcards you can take anywhere, on a train or plane or while your shopping at the mall or to bed. With these you will learn Polish. If you write me I will let you know when they will me complete.

Fastest way to learn Polish known to man

However, it is just not a site about the language, it is also about Poland, the people, culture and society and people around the world who are looking to reconnect with Poland. It will include Polish history, Polish music, travel information about Poland. I am an American that has lived in Krakow, Poland for many years.
A place for people of Polish ancestry and those who love the culture of Poland can Learn Polish online for free

The first  part of my language site is a free course that teaches Polish grammar online, read more.

How should you study Polish grammar?

I have created 1000  crisp, well organized, no nonsense drills in Polish grammar presented in a practical, not acedemic way.  Training and drilling in my opinion is the best way to learn basic Polish grammar, better than a course at Jagiellonian university. On the other hand learning grammar using grammar  tables, or traditional classes is hard, but I did include some, use these as a last resort.

I am not a Polish language native speaker but was able to learn the language with hard work, with blood, sweat and tears.  So I thought the least I could do is help others learn this language.

This site consists of  a lot  pages about Poland and Polish culture. Please feel free to explore my website and try my Polish grammar course.

Comments

68 responses to “Learn Polish Grammar free online”

  1. Constance Caldas

    My maiden name is Roskowski and I would like to reconnect to my heritage.

    Reply
    1. admin

      If your Polish have you taken a trip to Poland? I am an American that has lived in Poland for almost six years. It is a great country for many reason. I actually have Polish citizenship.

      Reply
  2. Rubinco Nineski

    I want to learn only polish grammar, then reading and understanding and listening and understanding.
    what you recommended for me.

    Reply
    1. admin

      I recommend trying to do my website. Next or at the same time, try to outline Polish grammar yourself and explain the rules in your own way if you can.

      There are many books and courses but not too many are good. Polish grammar is more about practice then about knowing every rule.

      Believe me I have lived in Poland for a while now and the guys that speak it the best, have a level of perfection, but do not worry about every rule.

      The use flashcards, actually I recommend Polish flash cards first. After you know the basic words and a little Polish grammar everything will fall in to place. From there you can speak and read. I will have a flashcard course out in a few months for the Polish language.

      Reply
  3. Kasia

    In my opinion Poland is a great country.
    I’m Polish.
    I am 18 years old and I Love my town Kraków.

    The language is difficult but I think that everybody can study this language.

    good luck

    Reply
    1. admin

      I am an American and a Krakovian and agree with Kasia, the language is very learnable and worth the effort.

      Reply
  4. Gary

    I’m also an American that happens to live in England and have met and become friends with Polish citizens so I thought I’d try to learn some of the language also… It is a bit of a minefield as to finding good study material.. any ideas?

    Reply
    1. admin

      If you are just starting I am creating some physical Polish flashcards with nice illustrations. There will be 200 cards with words, grammar and verbs. They will look very nice and is a good start but this is not out for a few months. My advice is learn words. The grammar is very complex, you can use this site for grammar but learning single words, rather than phrases is were to start. Polish is hard only at the beginning until you learn to pronounce the words. This is why I say learn single words.

      Reply
  5. Robert

    Hello,

    I just looked around here and… oh dear God. How will I learn all this. I’m Hungarian. My native language isn’t simple either, but at least I had 27 years to practice it.

    I’ve read your previous entry. I’ll focus on single words, and I’ll skip syntax-hacking for now.

    R

    Reply
    1. admin

      Both your language and the Polish language are very hard to learn for foreigners as there are so many cases. However, not impossible at all, in fact easy once you put your mind to it, as I am American and I learned Polish.

      Reply
  6. Mary Beth

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge of the Polish language!! I am American who is half Polish, Irish and German, grew up celebrating my Polish, Irish heritage mostly. Very excited to see that so many Poles are in Ireland right know, great combination!

    I visited Poland in 2008 and loved it, got to see the one of the towns my ancestors came from Bialy Dunej. I look forward to learning the Polish language with the help of your web site.

    Reply
    1. admin

      I am an American who loved Poland so much, I went on trips almost every years, until I at last, moved here to Poland. So watch out, if you start traveling to Poland you might just start living here.

      Reply
  7. Elle

    Hi there, I’m of Polish origin and have to agree with you that Poland is very addictive and wish I could visit Poland every year or better still move there as you did as I felt a sense of belonging to somewhere for the first time in my life. I grew up in the UK and had a difficult time as a child. I also never had the opportunity to go to a Polish Saturday School or mix with other Polish children, so now I have to do it all the hard way as a mature adult. Plus, my brain doesn’t absorb things as well as it used to do when one was younger.

    I’m learning Polish, but find it difficult to remember the “7” cases. Did you have any particular way or any order of learning or remembering them? I’d be grateful if you can share any secrets or tips.

    Also, where are you situated in Poland? Was it difficult to find an apartment? Although I haven’t experienced any difficult situations in Poland I’m wondering how you would know where to rent good safe apartments. City? out of the City? Did anyone give you advice as to what suburb you should live?How did the Polish people take to you being foreign living in Poland and seeing you didn’t speak the language at first, how difficult was that? Did you attend University to learn Polish?
    Excuse, if I’m being to inquisitive, but I’d really like to do what you did and make the move to Poland.

    Thank you in advance for any help or assistance you can give.
    Cheers!
    Elle.

    Reply
    1. admin

      Life in Boston where I was from was easy. I had a very good job and lived in Beacon Hill. Life in Poland is beautiful. What do you want an easy life or a beautiful life? That being said you can get a flat to rent very easy. Check gumtree. You can teach ESL. You can do a million things in Poland for work. Some of my friends teach, others are writers, others work in sales or translations. You do not need to know Polish to work in Poland, but it helps. If you are of Polish Polish ancestry you can get a Polish green card as written in the Polish constitution.
      Every person I met says they are bad with languages. What bunk. I have taught and leaned languages for years and I am horrible with languages, always was. There are only people who work at it and those who do not. Know language genius I have ever met in my years of teaching.
      Be patient and set expectations.
      If you can speak a few words of Polish, then you speak Polish the rest is improvement.

      Reply
  8. Margaret

    Your idea was great on choosing the cases. The problem was that there was no explanation of what the cases were. So, even when I chose the correct case, I still didn’t know what it meant.

    Reply
    1. admin

      Thank you for your feedback. Did you check out my lesson 1? Lesson 1 will explain what a case is and lesson 2 will go more into how to use it.

      polishgrammar.com/learn-polish/grammar/noun-case-identification-ll/

      I have a series of Polish grammar pages explanations written. They need to be improved.

      Again if anyone wants they can learn by creating and improve a few of the lesson pages that explain what a Polish noun case is.

      Reply
  9. Julian Kołłątaj

    Hi,

    I’ll definitely be taking a look at your site. I’m very keen to learn Polish now, so anything will help!

    I was a bit stubborn growing up with trying to learn two languages in my home – my mom being Finnish and my dad being Polish. So I didn’t succeed…

    I’ve been looking at the history of my family, more so when I’ve been meeting Polish people here in South Africa (where I was born and have grown up), saying, ‘Oh, you have a good history and bloodline. I studied your ancestor, Hugo Kołłątaj, at school, while I was growing up. He was an important figure back then, you know.’ So I’ve had to follow this up!

    Now that I am seeing a Polish girl, also born in SA (I feel lucky since there aren’t too many SA-born, typically good-looking Polish girls around in this country that I know of 😉 ), I have ‘extra’ reason to work on my language, so she can definitely help me practice too! 🙂 But importantly, I’d like to learn to speak, read and write, so I can look more into the history of my family…

    I want to know my heritage, and not let it be lost/forgotten, history-wise, and language-wise. It would be a real pity, otherwise.

    Dzienkuje bardzo, for your help. Tak trzymaj!

    Reply
    1. admin

      Julian thanks for the comment. I need to build this site into not just a Polish grammar and language site but I think maybe a larger Polish site.

      Have your got a Polish passport? You know you can get one. With a Polish – EU passport it will open a lot of doors for you. Poland is an up and coming country and in my opinion the nicest place to live in the world. I am an American (Polish also) and live here.

      Reply
  10. Anya

    Cześć ! Mój imię jest Anya Soloniuk ! I am of Polish heritage. I speak Polish partially at home. I would love to get better at speaking Polish, such as learning verbs and Polish grammar.
    Please help and send me the flashcards and other things that might help:P
    Dzienkuje bardzo!
    ~Anya Soloniuk

    Reply
    1. admin

      I am working on them. The artist is really amazing on these Flashcards by the way, and of course he is Polish.

      If you are of Polish heritage would you ever consider getting a Polish citizenship? You could be a dual citizen.

      Reply
  11. Kuba Przedzienkowski

    I was raised speaking Polish until I started grammar school. Then it was all English. I have lived in Poland a few years but sill have trouble with Grammar. And the amount of words I know. I need more vocabulary. Thanks for putting this site on line.

    Reply
  12. Piotr

    Hi,
    I’m 20 years old. I live in Poland. I’m studing and working here. I like meet new people and learning languages. My polish skills are very good (20 years). I’II be happy, if i cam help you with your polish learning. For free. Contact me

    Reply
  13. Havac25

    Hi,
    I’m come from Poland, too. Polish language is NOT difficult. It’s true, we Poles have a little problems whit our own language but… we’re learning our grammar to end of 16th. I must say also that there is many dificulties in Polish for example:
    iść – ty szłaś (past form for female – verb walk) but we say szedłeś, no szłeś. If you say szedłeś you’re odd in Poland. It will sounds awful, but everyone will understand you. There are also many orthography’s dificulties for example RZaba.. yes… It’s cool that you know how to say frog in polish but we write it as Żaba… żżżż czy rz… You know.. In most situations like this I don’t know how to write that word… It’s difficult for most Poles.. ;p So, don’t afraid about grammar, orthography and pronunciation because it’s not necessary to comunicate whit Poles…. So, please Learn Polish because it’s the most beautiful language and it’s not so dificult as everyone say!! LUDZISKA UCZCIE SIĘ POLSKIEGO BO TO SUPER JĘZYK I WOGÓLE NO!! If you want help I will be happy to help you 🙂 write polishmylanguage AT gmail.com.

    Reply
  14. Tony Mason

    Hi I am dating a Polish girl and I am in the process of trying to learn the Polish language .
    I would very grateful for any help you can give me .Look forward to your reply.

    Kind regards

    Anthony Mason
    Email: Masontony@eircom.net

    Reply
    1. admin

      I will come out with a series of articles on just that on my other website claritaslux.com – Until then – I think flashcards are the best way. You need to get about two thousand Polish words in your memory, before you can do anything. The best way to do this is Polish flashcards. I did it mostly this way.

      Reply
  15. adrian head

    I love poland I’ve been there 6 times & learning the lingo I have a polish wife & we both learn English &Polish together but need to learn more thanks.

    Reply
  16. Laura

    Hi,
    I am keen to learn Polish but am finding it extremely difficult. Any help would be great.

    Regards,
    Laura

    Reply
    1. admin

      Learn simple Polish words first. The sounds are so complex in the Polish language for a native English speaker they are hard to replicate. Therefore, focus on learning Polish words with flashcards. If they do not stick to your memory use mneumonics to help you remember. Let me know what the exact problem is and how you are doing.

      Reply
  17. Laura

    hi, thanks for your reply. I’m learning words but have no idea how to make sentences. Pronounciation is a bit tricky as well.Would really like to master this as there are loads of irish companies looking for people to work in Poland and I need to speak the language.
    I got cd’s out the library to teach me basic words, but that is about it. i’m trying your drills on the grammar and hoping that will help me string words together.

    Reply
    1. admin

      Well to work in Poland the language would help. Try to break out words phonetically. I make my own phonetics. Then make mnemonics to help you remember the words you get stuck on. After that speak Polish English that is Polish without grammar. Than learn Polish grammar. This is my recommendation.

      Reply
  18. Susana

    Hi “Admin”,
    I am impressed with your desire to help us Polish-Americans learn more about Polish.
    I am 3rd generation – Polish both sides. I am a very slow learner, but I love the language and heritage and being Polish. The songs, the smiles, the cheer, the hospitality, the culture, the tradionalness, the kindness, the beauty. I’ve been there twice to visit many many cousins. Like many who have responded to you on this site, I am a bit overwhelmed by the grammar, BUT have tremendously more HOPE due to your responses to the people who have written to you. How enthusiastic and encouraging and down to earth you are. Thank you. I look forward to the flashcards that you are working on. Dzienki. : )

    Reply
    1. admin

      I think the most common comment or e-mail I get is ‘I am not good with languages’. My basic reply after learning and teaching languages for many years is, no one is good, however, many people learn. Forget about the myths about people who are great with languages. If you want to learn Polish or any language just be patient. You will learn it. Also do not think of it as an either/or. That is I am speak it or I do not. If you can say some basic words, you speak it. Then just try to think of yourself as improving.

      Reply
    2. admin

      Thank you and I am working on the flashcards, the main delay is the art, however, it should be beautiful as it is all hand drawn. I want to create something unique for learners of the Polish language.

      Reply
  19. ni

    Hi…

    i’m currently learning Polish language. I find this website really useful and notice that there has been some new changes. However, some of polish words are mistakenly written. For example: dleko -> daleko
    szukac’ -> szukać

    I understand that some people already comment on this (polishgrammar.com/learn-polish/grammar/noun-case-identification-t1/)

    I hope Admin is able to correct some mistakes so this website will be even more great!!!

    good work! keep it up!

    Reply
    1. admin

      Thanks for your vigilance. I have to review grammar and spelling in both the English and the Polish language. 🙂

      Reply
    2. admin

      I first wrote this without the Polish alphabet on my keyboard so my first draft was pretty rough. Then I added Polish letters. I was missing a lot of the Polish letter ć which sounds like ‘che” So I make the play on words that Polish people have really good ‘chi’ (Chinese energy) as they have it all over their language.

      Reply
  20. metrampaz

    Hello,
    I’m looking for an English or American native speaker who could answer some questions about English language that I will not find in a dictionary.
    In return, I can explain some Polish

    Metrampaz
    metrampaz AT o2.pl

    Reply
    1. admin

      What kind of questions did you have?

      Reply
  21. Daniel Winters

    Have you seen any of the materials from the Studium Języka Polskiego dla Cudzoziemców in Lodz? I learned Polish there back in the 90’s. Our books were written completely in Polish as nearly all groups were multilingual.
    I agree that, for a native English speaker, learning Polish was blood, sweat & tears. The students from Russia/Ukraine/Bulgaria/Bosnia had an easy time in comparison. Meanwhile, I was spending hours & hours on grammar & vocabulary drills. Still, it might’ve been hard work, but was also great fun. Learning another language opens a window to an entire other world. I don’t get back to Poland much, but when I do it’s a real kick to use Polish again on a daily basis.
    One of these days I should learn the rules for saying “both” in Polish, I never did quite figure that out & always tried to talk around it somehow. Any thoughts on the “both” issue? obydwa, obydwu, obydwie, obydwoma, obydwóch i tak dalej.

    Reply
    1. admin

      I do not know the exact materials but was it
      wśród Polaków
      Podręcznik języka polskiego dla cudzoziemców
      It was printed in 1988 in Lublin. I have this and it is a good old series or books.
      It depends on the case of course and what you are talking about, male or female or child.
      obydwa – this is for the male gender not animated for example – kto/co and kogo/co. The second one obydwu is make and for kogo/czego, etc. So the real question is what are you talking about. You can also say “jedno i drugie” (for neuter) again it is all about gender and cases in Polish. More blood, sweat and tears.

      Reply
    2. admin

      Ps you have to come back a lot has changed, Poland really rocks.

      Reply
  22. Luca

    Hi all 🙂
    does anybody know where I can listen to spoken Polish words in wordreference style?

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      I will be creating mp3s for this in Polish. However, that is the future.

      Reply
  23. Sabina

    Hello!
    I’m from Poland. I would like to talk with someone in English/Polish by Skype. It would help me to improve my English. Email: kwiatek473 (at) tlen.pl

    Reply
  24. Stefan

    This is a remarkable site! I have learned single words and have figured out some very elementary cases on my own from years of watching poles talk to each other in a chat of a online game. I bought a Polish-Swedish dictionary some year ago, but lacked the basic grammar knowledge to learn anything concrete.

    But now I found this site, and will work through the tutorials. I’m also looking forward to the mp3s because right now I’m just guessing how to pronounce the nasal vowels.

    Good work
    Stefan z Szwecji

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      Thanks for your kind words on Polish grammar. I love the Polish language and as a foreigner who is not great with languages it was a big sense of satisfaction for me to speak Polish. I would love to upgrade this site, to help others, but I have the programs I am working on etc.
      Thanks again.

      Reply
  25. Ken Edwards

    My wife and I aare going to Poland In June.
    I would like to learn some basic Polish.

    Thank you

    Reply
  26. Nick Post

    My fiancee and I are having a baby and her family is all Polish; they speak little English. Naturally, our future son will be raised with his mother’s native language and I have been trying to learn the language as well in order to not only fit in, but know her family on a more intimate level. I have a natural “ear” for languages, but many sites do not cater to the type of learner that I am: visual and kinestetic. I hope that your flash-cards will be the way to go and I will keep you informed with my progress with them.

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      I will let you know when it is ready, I have a few methods coming out on and off my site.

      Reply
  27. Rafael Saracchini

    Thank your for your website. I´m learning Polish since January, and did some exercises with verbs in your site that helped me a lot ! Thank you very much for this. I would be glad if there is exercizes about the locative case. In fact i´m a bit confused with feminine nouns and could not get a good explanation about how inflect them, i´m doing it mostly by instinct and memorization… anyway, congratulations for your effort and help towards people interested in such language !

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      Thank you very much, I someday will upgrade the site but I have a lot of things going on right now. I really love the Polish language.

      Reply
  28. Tiffany Zayas

    I am very interested in learning the history culture and the language of Poland! 🙂 When do we start?

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      I have not been writing a lot here, but hope to post more lessons on Polish grammar and about Poland.

      Reply
      1. Mazsolika

        Hi Mark! I just wanted to say that so great job you do with this website. Just today I found it and with pleasure I will be visiting and reading in English and trying to be active user. Have a good week. See you 🙂

        Reply
        1. Mark Biernat

          Thank you for your kind words about my Polish grammar website. Have fun using it and let me know what you think about this language of the Poles.

          Reply
  29. Ted Hebbler

    Hi Mark…..would like to get those cards you are creating.I will be in Ruda Slaska in 5 weeks from now.

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      Doing it as fast as I can. The Artist will be done with the cards I think in about a week, I am finishing the designs of the formats and my wife is checking the grammar etc. I do not know if I can get them done in time for your trip.

      Reply
  30. Cagdas

    Hey Mark, i just wanted to tell you the thing you are doing is really nice and useful as long as there are not enough and good books to learn this language.
    My wife is Polish and I really need to learn this language. I just did not know how to start. Now I know 🙂

    Reply
  31. Jacky

    (first : sorry for my “frenglish”, I usually speak french 😉
    Many thanks for this wonderful website !
    I find here a lot of feelings that I also have about Poland … and it will probably help me to learn Polish. I began three months ago … jest bardzo trudne 😉

    Do You know the region of Lublin ? I was there two times (2010 and 2011) and I fell in love with Lubelskie and its inhabitants.
    It is a relatively poor region of Poland, probably neglected by the central government, but a very dynamic and young city (arts, culture, music, universities, aso).
    I have several friends in Lubelskie (Lublin, Lubartów and Ostrówek Kolonia). They are very nice and endearing people.

    Jacky – an old (1953) swiss man, who feels polish with the heart.

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      Do I know Lublin? My name is Biernat and there is a famous Biernat z Lublina who was considered on the founders of Polish literature. My grandparents are from Frampol and my uncle lives there now. I also have family from Bilgoray. I love this area of Poland. It is peaceful and the people are nice and speak with a nice eastern accent. Thank you for speaking so highly of this area of Poland.
      And by the way you are not old by any means.

      Reply
      1. Mazsolika

        I have the family in Lubaczów, a small city not really far from Biłgoraj and I love visiting them and listening to how they speak, I do always smile on their speech. Also my friends from the study were recognised by their accent in a group, but it was so cute for me, what a pity that not for everyone like for example for people from the capital… who think are better than other Polish (and in my opinion this is such a local disadvantage of some kind of Warsaw people).

        Reply
        1. Mark Biernat

          Polish people in the past liked to think they were better than other Polish people, it was funny. But in todays economy people do not care about Eastern Accents or anything else. I like Eastern Accents, and my family was from Bilgori and Frampol the same region.

          Reply
  32. Mazsolika

    It is so interesting website about Poland and Polish. I am very happy I could find it today. Appropriately I am Polish and I don’t need to learn it 😉 but I am very much interested in never ending exploring English language that’s why I will be visiting here often and reading about Polish and Poland in the language I do really love. I don’t live in Poland because I have emigrated and nowadays I learn Hungarian which is other kind of a language but seems to be not really easier than Polish so I feel with it as you all probably do with Polish indeed 😉 If anyone needs help in learning Polish, or has any problem with understanding sth, can always write me an email in English, Polish or Hungarian. I have some experience in teaching Polish so I think I could help if I just know. Have a nice week to all of you! 😉

    Reply
  33. Bruce Sofinski

    Hello:

    My name is Bruce Sofinski. I live in Richmond, Virginia, USA. My grandparents emigrated from (then) Galicia (now Western Ukraine) in the early 1900s to Auburn, NY, USA. I am thinking about visiting the small village where my grandparents lived over 100 years ago. It is called Velyki Hlibowychi. It is about 30km south of L’viv. I have two questions – I hope you can help me!

    1) My grandfather’s relatives call his language Polish, and he was Roman Catholic. My grandmother’s relatives call her language Ukranian, and she was Greek Orthodox. I understand there is a name for mixed Ukranian-Polish families called “latynyky”. I want to learn the language (Polish? Ukranian? a dialect of both?) that is used in that village by “latynyky”. What do you think that language would be?

    2) I will already have plans to be in Europe. I can start my trip in Munich, Germany or Vienna (Wien), Austria very easily. I want to see Krakow (just for a day), but then go from Krakow -> L’viv. I read your website. It is very informative – Thank you. Is there any kind of transportation (not airplane, but train, bus, car) that goes directly from Krakow to L’viv?

    Than you for your help.

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      You are like me, Polish and Ukrainian. Do not worry about the dialects, choose a language you want to learn and go for it. Do worry about the slangy little names each village had for the people living across the river, they are are Slavic speaking a similar language and Christian. So I learned Polish, but you could learn Ukrainian if you like. In Ukraine Lviv etc they speak Ukrainian and to the West Polish.
      There are plans and buses and trains that to from Krakow to Lviv. I have done all three. It is safe and cheap, some rich people take cars.

      Reply
  34. John McAlpine

    Hello Admin:

    Please forgive me for writing in English! I am seeking the reason that these words (esp. “Czolem”) are greetings. I think “czesc’” literally means “honor”. If so, it’s not hard to see how it developed into a greeting.

    But “czolem” not so much! I know it is instrumental singular of czolo, which means “forehead”, so it means literally “with (my) forehead”. I figure there has to be an ellipsis of some verb here. On the basis of my Russian I am theorizing that that verb could be “bit’”(Polish “bic’”), “to hit”, which in the Russian expression “chelom bit’” literally means “to strike with the forehead”(i.e. against the floor), but really means to make a profound bow.

    My question for you, then, is, “am I onto something here, or am I way off track.” If so, can you tell me how “czolem” came to mean “Cheerio”, (which of course no American would say)?

    Thanks a lot,
    John

    Reply
    1. Mark Biernat

      You are correct Czolem is forehead, many people use this old people etc, it is just a greeting that comes from scouts. It is very polite. However Czesc is not slag it is an informal hello, it means hi. czolem means ‘hey’. Serwus is another one. You say these only to people you know well, not to anyone or an older person.

      Reply
  35. Linda Grabowski

    I have been trying to print some pages so I can study. I have been unsuccessful. Is there some way I can do this. Thanks. I study the language locally as a Continuing Ed course.

    Reply

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