A couple of weeks ago I promised you we would take a look at \u201cbig\u201d numbers, in Polish of course. And I think today would be a good time to do.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with today\u2019s date: January 12, 2010. Yeah, it\u2019s a mouthful, I know\u2026 But unfortunately, in order to express yourself in Polish, you need to know those big numbers.<\/p>\n It seems that most foreign expats in Poland can manage easily enough from zero up to ten. Or even up to twenty. Above that, it gets much more difficult for most people. Why? The words are hard to say and even harder to spell. Even for a native Pole. Yes, that\u2019s right. It\u2019s difficult to pronounce the words correctly, so most people don\u2019t (I don\u2019t either) and if you ask a bunch of random Poles to spell \u201c650\u201d, for example, my field tests show that about 50% of the respondents will make a mistake.<\/p>\n But, first things first. Do you remember how to say \u201c10\u201d? Dziesi\u0119\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Even if that\u2019s all you remember, that\u2019s OK actually. If you know how to say \u201cdziesi\u0119\u0107<\/strong>\u201d, you should be able to see the pattern in numbers from 10 to 90. See anything interesting?<\/p>\n Yes, you are absolutely right. That second compound is a variation on \u201cdziesi\u0119\u0107<\/strong>\u201d. The first (with the exception of \u201cczter<\/strong>\u201d, because it\u2019s missing the ending – \u201cy<\/strong>\u201d \/cztery<\/strong>\/) is just the regular number from 2 to 9.<\/p>\n So basically, if you take the words apart and look at them carefully, you can see that in Polish we say \u201ctwo tens\u201d for 20, \u201cthree tens\u201d for 30 and so on. Which means that if you already know the numbers from 1 to 10, you know them all the way up to 99.<\/p>\n \u201cOh wait,\u201d<\/em> I hear you say, \u201cbut what about the teens?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n No worries, they may look difficult, but are, in fact, quite easy.<\/p>\n Take a look:<\/p>\n So again, all you need to remember is the \u201cna\u015bcie<\/strong>\u201d ending, and even if you mess up the first part (or forget that some are irregular), everybody will be able to understand you anyway.<\/p>\n The real problem is not the numbers themselves, but the fact that they decline every which way possible. Unfortunately, that\u2019s Polish for you!<\/p>\n We\u2019ll tackle the really big numbers next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A couple of weeks ago I promised you we would take a look at \u201cbig\u201d numbers, in Polish of course. And I think today would be a good time to do. Let\u2019s start with today\u2019s date: January 12, 2010. In Polish: dwunastego stycznia, dwa tysi\u0105ce dziesi\u0105tego roku. Yeah, it\u2019s a mouthful, I know\u2026 But unfortunately…<\/p>\n
\nIn Polish: dwunastego stycznia, dwa tysi\u0105ce dziesi\u0105tego roku<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nTake a look:<\/p>\n\n
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