Common English mistakes Polish speakers make, and how to fix them

If your first language is Polish, many of your English mistakes follow Polish grammar and sounds: no articles, one verb for both "borrow" and "lend", and false friends that look safe. Linguists call this transfer. It is not carelessness, and each mistake below has a clear fix.

The big ones. 1) Missing articles: "I am doctor", "I bought car" → "a doctor", "a car". 2) "I have 30 years" (mam 30 lat) → "I'm 30". 3) "I am interesting in" → "I'm interested in" (a thing is interesting, a person is interested; likewise boring and bored). 4) Borrow and lend ("pożyczyć" covers both): you borrow from someone, and they lend to you. 5) "On the picture", "in Monday" (na zdjęciu, w poniedziałek) → "in the picture", "on Monday". 6) Present for present perfect: "I know him since school" → "I've known him since school". 7) "Learn" for "teach" (uczyć): "he learned me" → "he taught me"; "make homework" → "do homework". 8) False friends: "actually" (aktualnie = currently), "eventually" (ewentualnie = alternatively), "sympathetic" (sympatyczny = nice), "pension" (pensja = salary), "chef" (szef = boss), "ordinary" (ordynarny = vulgar), "receipt" (recepta = prescription), "hazard" (hazard = gambling). 9) Questions without "do" and double negatives: "What it means?" → "What does it mean?"; "I didn't see nobody" → "anybody". 10) Sounds: "th" as f, t, d or s ("fink", "dis"), devoiced endings ("bag" as "back"), and "bad" said like "bed": open the jaw wider for "bad".

These are speaking habits, so the place to work on them is out loud. That is what Airi is for: you talk, she answers out loud, shows one small fix at a time and keeps the conversation going. It is free to start, and you do not need a card.

A quick example with Airi

I am programmer and I work for big software company.

Nice to meet you! Small fix: "I'm a programmer and I work for a big software company." What does your team build?

I'm a programmer and I work for a big software company. We build apps for banks. Last week my laptop broke, so my friend borrowed me his.

That was kind of him. Small fix: "my friend lent me his." Is yours working again?

Try a conversation like this, free600 free credits, about 8 minutes of speaking. No card.

Word-for-word translations from Polish, and the natural English version

Every phrase in the left column is good Polish translated one word at a time. People will usually understand you, but English builds the idea differently. Learn the middle column as ready-made chunks.

Word for word from Polish	Natural English	The Polish behind it
How does it look like?	What does it look like?	"Jak to wygląda?" starts with "jak" (how). English uses "what" with "like" to ask for a description. "How does it look?" asks for an opinion.
How do you call it in English?	What do you call it in English?	"Jak to się nazywa?": Polish asks "how", English asks "what".
I'm already after lunch.	I've already had lunch.	"Jestem już po obiedzie": "po" (after) plus a noun says something is over. English uses a verb: "I've finished the exam", not "I'm after the exam".
It depends from the price.	It depends on the price.	"To zależy od ceny": "od" usually translates as "from".
You have right.	You're right.	"Masz rację" is built with "mieć" (have). English uses "be": "she's right", "I was wrong".
We were with my wife at a concert.	My wife and I went to a concert.	"Byliśmy z żoną na koncercie": in Polish "we with wife" is two people, you and her. In English it sounds like a group plus your wife.
Can you make us a photo?	Can you take a photo of us?	"Zrobić zdjęcie": "robić" is both "make" and "do", but in English you take a photo.
I'll call to you tomorrow.	I'll call you tomorrow.	"Zadzwonię do ciebie": "do" is "to". English "call" and "phone" take no preposition.
(handing over a pen) Please.	Here you go.	"Proszę" covers "please", "here you are" and "you're welcome". English "please" only goes with a request.

Where Polish and English grammar part ways: tenses, questions, nouns

Polish uses verb pairs such as "pisać" and "napisać" to show whether an action is complete, where English uses simple, continuous and perfect forms. So several English tense choices have no Polish model, and Polish question order and plurals do not carry over either.

One Polish present tense, two English ones. "Pracuję" is both "I work" and "I'm working", so the two get swapped: "I'm getting up at six every day", "Be quiet, the baby sleeps." A habit takes the simple form and something happening right now takes "-ing": "I get up at six every day", "Be quiet, the baby is sleeping."
Future after "if" and "when". "Jeśli będę miał czas, zadzwonię" is future in both halves, hence "If I will have time, I will call you." English keeps the present after "if" and "when": "If I have time, I'll call you", "When I get home, I'll call you."
"Would" in both halves. "Gdybym wiedział, powiedziałbym ci" has "by" in both halves, which gives "If I would know, I would tell you." English puts "would" in one half only: "If I knew, I would tell you."
Question order inside a longer sentence. "Czy wiesz, gdzie jest dworzec?" leads to "Do you know where is the station?" After "Do you know", "Can you tell me" or "I wonder", English goes back to statement order, subject before verb: "Do you know where the station is?"
Nouns that count differently. "Informacje", "rady" and "meble" are ordinary plurals, which produces "informations", "advices" and "furnitures". Say "some information", "a piece of advice", "new furniture". "Drzwi" exists only in the plural, so one door becomes "the doors are open". Say "The door is open."

English sounds that are hard for Polish speakers, and how to produce them

A Polish r, tapped or rolled, is easy for listeners to understand, so it can wait. The four habits below matter more, because each one can turn an English word into a different word.

Sound	Practice pair	How to produce it
"th"	think / sink, three / free, they / day	Polish "t" and "d" are already made against the upper teeth. For "th", put the tongue tip lightly between the teeth and let the air keep flowing instead of stopping it.
"-ing" with no k	thing / think, sing / sink	In Polish this nasal sound mostly comes before k or g, as in "bank", so a k slips in: "singink". Hold the hum in the nose and let it fade without a click.
Voiced endings	bed / bet, eyes / ice	Polish makes the last consonant of a word voiceless, so "chleb" ends in a p sound and "bed" comes out as "bet". Hold the vowel longer before b, d, g, v and z. English listeners use that length to tell which consonant you meant.
p, t, k at the start	pie / buy, coat / goat	Polish p, t and k are released with no puff of air, so "pie" can be heard as "buy". Hold your palm in front of your mouth and say "pie", "time" and "coat" until you feel a burst of breath.

Stress and weak vowels. Polish usually stresses the second-to-last syllable and says every vowel fully, so "comfortable" tends to come out as four full syllables with the stress on "ta": "com-for-TA-ble". English stresses the first syllable of this word and squeezes the rest: "KUMF-ter-bul". In a long word, find the stressed syllable first, then say the others quickly and quietly.

Polish-English false friends beyond "actually" and "eventually"

Polish word	Looks like	Say this in English
konsekwentny	consequent	consistent: "She's very consistent in her work."
realizować (projekt)	realize	carry out: "We carried out the project in six months." "Realize" usually means "become aware".
kontrolować (bilety)	control	check: "They checked our tickets on the train." "Control" means to be in charge of something.
komunikacja miejska	communication	public transportation: "Public transportation here is excellent."
okazja	occasion	bargain (a good price): "It was half price, a real bargain." For an opportunity, say "chance".
kolega	colleague	friend or classmate: "I went with a friend from school." In English a colleague is only someone you work with.
lunatyk	lunatic	sleepwalker: "My brother is a sleepwalker." "Lunatic" is a harsh word for someone acting recklessly.

One more hides inside a correct sentence. "Zdenerwowany" covers both worried and angry, so "I got nervous" tells an English listener you were anxious. If you mean that you lost your patience, say "I got annoyed" or "I got angry."

Eight minutes with Airi: a speaking drill for Polish speakers

The 600 free credits you get by signing up with Google last about eight minutes of speaking, enough for one pass through these steps. Airi does not score pronunciation, so treat her as a listener and use the tables above as your script.

Start by naming your targets: "My first language is Polish. Please point out when I say 'how does it look like', 'I'm after' or 'if I will'."
Ask her two questions built on the first table: "What does your favorite place look like?" and "What do you call a person who walks in their sleep?"
Tell her your plans for tomorrow with "if" or "when" in every sentence: "If I finish early, I'll go for a run." "When I get home, I'll cook dinner."
Say what you are doing right now and what you do every day, so that both present forms come up: "I'm sitting in the kitchen. I usually get up at six."
Put a sound pair into a sentence on purpose: "I think the best thing about my city is the food." End "thing" on the hum, with no k. If her reply shows she heard a different word, say the sentence again more slowly.
When a small fix appears, repeat her version aloud before you go on. She remembers your name and your last topic, so next time choose different rows.

How to get the most from it

A singular countable noun needs a word in front

A doctor, the car, my idea. Say "I'm a doctor" and "I bought a car", not the bare noun.

Borrow from, lend to

I borrowed his laptop. He lent me his laptop.

Interested (you) vs interesting (it)

I'm interested in the movie. The movie is interesting.

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Frequently asked questions

Why are articles so hard for Polish speakers?

Polish has no articles, so nothing in your first language tells you when to say "a" or "the", and a sentence without them sounds complete. A useful first check: a singular countable noun such as "doctor" or "car" almost never stands alone in English. Say full sentences out loud and listen for the gap.

Is "actually" a false friend for Polish speakers?

Yes. "Aktualnie" means "currently", while English "actually" means "in fact". "Eventually" is the same kind of trap: "ewentualnie" means "alternatively" or "if need be", but "eventually" means "in the end".

Why do many Polish speakers add a k to "-ing"?

In Polish the "ng" sound mostly comes before k or g, as in "bank", and voiced consonants lose their voice at the end of a word. Together these turn "thing" into "think". Practice ending the word on the nasal hum, with no release.

Do I need to lose my Polish accent to be understood?

No. An accent is part of how you speak, and a Polish r rarely causes confusion. Spend your effort on the few habits that can change the word a listener hears: voiced endings such as "bed", the k added to "-ing", "th", and stress in long words like "comfortable".

Is Airi available in Poland?

Yes. Airi runs in the web browser on a phone or laptop, so there is nothing to install and you can use it from Poland. The conversation itself is in English only.

Is it free to try?

Yes. Signing up with Google gives you 600 free credits, about eight minutes of speaking, with no credit card. After that there are one-off credit packs and no subscription.

Last updated: 2026-10-03