Counting in Polish follows a logical pattern once you learn the basic vocabulary.

You need to memorize the first twenty numbers to form larger numbers easily.

The grammar behind counting objects involves a few specific rules.

I’ll show you the exact numbers and the rules for using them correctly.

Numbers from 0 to 10

The foundation of Polish counting starts with the numbers from zero to ten.

You’ll use these base numbers to build almost every other number in the language.

Memorize these first before moving on to larger amounts.

Numbers from 11 to 19

Numbers from eleven to nineteen in Polish end with the suffix -naście.

This works exactly like the suffix “-teen” in English.

You simply take the base number and add -naście to the end.

Some base numbers drop a letter or change their spelling slightly to make pronunciation easier.

Counting in tens and hundreds

Counting by tens in Polish uses suffixes that literally mean “tens”.

The numbers twenty, thirty, and forty use -dzieścia or -dzieści.

Numbers from fifty to ninety end in -dziesiąt.

To create a number like twenty-two, you just combine the words without any connecting words like “and”.

For hundreds, the pattern is very similar.

Two hundred is dwieście, three hundred is trzysta, and four hundred is czterysta.

Numbers from five hundred to nine hundred end in -set (for example, pięćset for 500).

The word for one thousand is tysiąc.

Rules for counting objects in Polish

Polish has specific grammar rules when you combine numbers with nouns.

The ending of the noun changes depending on the number you’re using.

This happens because numbers force nouns into different grammatical cases.

The number one and the number two also change slightly depending on the gender of the noun.

Let’s look at the three main rules using the masculine word for cat (kot).

Rule 1: the number one

When you have exactly one item, you use the standard singular form of the noun.

The word for “one” changes based on whether the noun is masculine (jeden), feminine (jedna), or neuter (jedno).

Rule 2: numbers ending in 2, 3, and 4

If a number ends in 2, 3, or 4, you use the basic plural form of the noun.

This rule applies to numbers like 2, 3, 4, 22, 34, and 103.

It doesn’t apply to the teens (12, 13, or 14).

Remember that for feminine nouns, the number two changes to dwie.

Rule 3: numbers 5 and up

Numbers ending in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 0 require the plural genitive case of the noun.

This rule also includes all of the teen numbers (11 through 19).

The plural genitive form of kot is kotów.