Polish English Mistakes: Common Grammar, Pronunciation, and Vocabulary Errors

Polish speakers make 5 major English errors: TH sounds become "dis/fink" (99% of learners), confusing much/many due to Polish's single word "ile," mixing up teach/learn/study, using "do" instead of "make" mistakes, and struggling with phrasal verbs that don't exist in Polish. These persistent errors stem from fundamental linguistic differences between Polish and English grammar structures.

The Infamous TH Sound

Ask any English teacher in Poland what drives them crazy, and they'll immediately mention the TH sound. As one teacher notes, "99% of Poles turn this sound into a D, TR or F sound," producing "dis" instead of "this" and "fink" instead of "think." This isn't laziness, Polish simply doesn't have the TH sound, so Polish speakers' mouths aren't trained to make it. The correct technique involves gently placing your tongue against your front teeth while pushing air around the sides, which feels unnatural if you've never done it before. Many Poles can intellectually understand how to make the sound but struggle to actually produce it in conversation when they're not consciously thinking about tongue placement. It's the single biggest pronunciation marker that immediately identifies someone as a Polish English speaker.

Much vs. Many: The Single-Word Problem

Polish speakers struggle with much/many because their language uses a single word ("ile") for both concepts. English requires "much" for uncountable nouns (much water, much time) and "many" for countable ones (many apples, many people). This distinction doesn't exist in Polish, so speakers have to consciously think about whether a noun is countable or uncountable every single time, something native English speakers do automatically without thinking. You'll hear Polish speakers say "How much people are coming?" instead of "How many people are coming?" because their brain defaults to the Polish pattern of one word serving both functions. It's grammatically incorrect but reveals the interference of Polish linguistic structures on English production. For language learning tips, visit Expatslist's forum.

Teach, Learn, Study: Three Words, One Concept

These three terms often get confused because Polish doesn't distinguish them as clearly. Teachers "teach," students "learn," and studying involves focused academic work, distinctions that blur in Polish where similar concepts overlap. Polish speakers might say "He learned me English" instead of "He taught me English," or confuse studying (systematic academic effort) with learning (acquiring knowledge). The problem isn't that Poles don't understand the conceptual differences; it's that Polish doesn't force you to choose different words for these distinct actions, so the habit of differentiating doesn't develop naturally. English teachers spend enormous amounts of time drilling these distinctions.

Do vs. Make: The Robić Problem

The Polish word "robić" translates to both "do" and "make," leading speakers to use them interchangeably in English when they're actually quite different. You "make mistakes" but "do homework." You "make a decision" but "do exercises." There's no consistent logical rule, it's just English being English, forcing speakers to memorize which verb goes with which noun. Polish speakers will say "do mistakes" instead of "make mistakes" because robić works for both in Polish. This trips up even advanced Polish English speakers who understand the distinction intellectually but default to the wrong verb when speaking quickly or casually. Connect with other language learners at Expatslist.

The Phrasal Verb Nightmare

Phrasal verbs like "put out," "give up," "look after," and "run into" absolutely torture Polish English learners because they defy logical rules and change meaning based on context. "Put out" can mean extinguish a fire, inconvenience someone, or publish something, with no pattern connecting these meanings. Polish doesn't have this type of verb construction, so learners have to memorize hundreds of phrasal verbs and their multiple meanings without any grammatical framework to help. There's also the challenge of irregular past tenses (swam, fought, taught, rode), prepositions of time (from, to, for, until, since), and pronunciation nuances with minimal pairs. Learning English as a Polish speaker means constantly battling linguistic structures that simply don't exist in Polish, requiring massive amounts of memorization rather than logical pattern application. For more language insights, check out Expatslist's blog.