Polish Letter Ł: How to Say Ł (like English w)
The Polish letter ł is the 16th letter of the 32-letter Polish alphabet, an L with a diagonal stroke, named eł (‘ew’). In standard modern Polish it is pronounced [w], like the w in English ‘wet’. It once stood for a ‘dark’ l; the w pronunciation spread from the 16th century and is now the norm.
What the Polish letter Ł sounds like
The Polish letter ł is a labio-velar glide, [w]: the w of English ‘wet’, ‘wow’ and ‘cow’. Round your lips and raise the back of your tongue. That is all. For English speakers this is one of the easiest Polish sounds; the hard part is remembering that a letter shaped like L does not sound like l.
| Word | IPA | Meaning | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| łódź | [wut͡ɕ] | boat | |
| mały | [ˈmawɨ] | small | |
| masło | [ˈmaswɔ] | butter | |
| ładny | [ˈwadnɨ] | pretty, nice | |
| był | [bɨw] | he was |
The city of Łódź is the famous test. It is pronounced [wut͡ɕ], roughly ‘Wooch’: ł is w, ó is ‘oo’, and the final dź loses its voice to a soft ‘ch’. Hardly anything about it matches the English reading ‘Lodz’.
Why Ł looks like an L: a short history
Ł was originally a different kind of l. Medieval Polish had two l sounds: a clear one, written l, and a velarized ‘dark’ one, [ɫ], similar to the l in English ‘full’. Stanisław Zaborowski’s spelling treatise of about 1514-1515 helped fix the stroked form used for the dark l.
From the 16th century, the dark l began to turn into w in the speech of the lower classes. Educated speakers long regarded the w pronunciation as uncultured, and the old dark l survived among the upper classes into the 20th century. By the mid-1900s the distinction had faded, and w became standard. The dark l is still heard in some eastern dialects and among Polish speakers in Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.
The Polish letter Ł in grammar
Ł is everywhere in the past tense. Masculine singular forms end in -ł, and most plural and feminine forms contain it too:
- był (he was), była (she was), było (it was), były (they were)
- miał (he had), zrobiłem (I did, said by a man)
- but byli (they were, men or mixed groups) uses l, as explained on the Polish letter L page
In some consonant clusters, ł is weakened or dropped in everyday speech. jabłko (apple) is commonly heard as ‘YAP-ko’, and in mógł (he could) the final ł is often barely audible. Careful speech keeps it, so pronounce it when in doubt.
How common is Ł, and how to type it
Ł is the most frequent of the Polish letters with diacritics. A letter count published by the PWN language advice service put ł at 1.82% of letters, ahead of ę (1.11%), ą (0.99%) and ó (0.85%). Its Unicode code points are U+0141 (Ł) and U+0142 (ł).
Typing: on the Polish (Programmers) keyboard press AltGr + L. On phones, long-press l. When diacritics are stripped, ł becomes l, so Łódź turns into ‘Lodz’ in many English texts. See how to type Polish characters.
Surnames show ł often, and many English-speaking readers mispronounce them. Wałęsa is ‘va-WEN-sa’, and Michał is ‘MEE-hahw’. The Polish names pronunciation guide has more.
Ł in first names
Several of the most common Polish first names contain ł. Paweł is PAH-vew, Łukasz is WOO-kash, and Michał ends in ‘hahw’. In English documents they often lose the stroke (Pawel, Lukasz), but the w sound is still the right one.
Common mistakes with Ł
- Reading ł as l: mały is ‘MAH-wy’, not ‘MAH-ly’.
- Treating ł as a ‘crossed-out’ letter and skipping it. It is a full sound.
- Confusing ł with l in writing: łaska (grace) and laska (walking stick) are different words.
- Writing Ł with a horizontal bar like ƚ. The stroke is short and slanted, rising to the right.
Before Ł comes L; after it, M. For every diacritic letter in one place, see Polish accents.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce the Polish letter ł?
Like English w in ‘wet’, [w]. Mały (small) sounds like ‘MAH-wy’.
How do you pronounce Łódź?
Roughly ‘Wooch’: [wut͡ɕ]. Ł is w, ó is ‘oo’, and the final dź is devoiced to a soft ‘ch’.
Why does Ł sound like w?
Ł originally stood for a dark l. From the 16th century it shifted to w in popular speech, and by the mid-20th century w became the standard pronunciation.
What is the letter Ł called in Polish?
Its name is ‘eł’, pronounced ‘ew’.
Is Ł the same as L?
No. They are separate letters with different sounds, and swapping them changes meaning.
How do I type ł?
On the Polish (Programmers) keyboard press AltGr + L. The Unicode code points are U+0141 (Ł) and U+0142 (ł).