Polish Numbers & Counting
Numbers are pure survival vocabulary: prices, ages, phone numbers, how many pierogi. The first ten do most of the work, and two of them — trzy and cztery — are good practice for Polish consonant clusters.
One to Ten
Teens, Tens, and Hundreds
The teens add -naście; the tens vary a little; hundred is sto.
Age and Prices
Two everyday jobs for numbers. Polish states an age with mieć (to have) — like French, you "have" your years:
Ile masz lat? — Mam dwadzieścia lat.
How old are you? — I'm twenty.
Note: Literally 'how many years do you have?' / 'I have twenty years.' Note lat — more on that below.
Ile to kosztuje? — Sto złotych.
How much is it? — A hundred złoty.
Note: kosztuje = 'costs'. The Polish currency is the złoty; sto złotych = 100 złoty.
Counting Changes the Noun
Here's the twist worth spotting early: the noun after a number changes shape depending on the number — exactly why it's dwa lata but pięć lat.
Notice rok → lata → lat: "year" even switches stem. Don't drill the endings yet — just expect the noun to shift, and it will click once you meet the cases.
Next: put verbs to work with the present tense.