Essential Polish phrases

Good day and goodbye. Said on entering and leaving a shop, a lift or a waiting room. Skipping it reads as rudeness, not reserve.

Sir / madam, and the grammatical subject of the sentence. Polish has no neutral 'you', so every sentence commits you to formal or informal.

The Poznań tag word — 'hey', 'right?', 'you know'. It is the fastest way to identify someone as local, and the first thing anyone here will teach you.

Your national identification number. Nothing digital in Poland works without it — tax, NFZ, e-government, most banking.

The government digital identity. Since 27 April 2026 you cannot file a residence application without one, and the fastest way to get it is your bank's app.

The discounted transport pass for people who settle their income tax with a Poznań-area tax office — PLN 119 a month instead of PLN 199. Filing your PIT here is worth PLN 80 a month.

The trade fair. The Poznań International Fair has run since 1921 and its grounds sit beside the main station, so 'w czasie targów' — during the fair — is a real qualifier on hotel prices and traffic.

The lump-sum tax on revenue that most Polish IT contractors elect — 12% for software development. The choice is annual and the deadline is unforgiving.

A potato in the Poznań dialect, and by extension a person from Poznań. 'Pyry z gzikiem' — potatoes with seasoned quark — is the regional dish and the local self-image in one plate.

The St Martin's croissant, an EU protected geographical indication since 2008. Only bakers certified by the Poznań guild may use the name, and the city eats about 250 tonnes of them on 11 November.

Order, done properly — the dialect form of porządek. Wielkopolska was under Prussian rule for over a century and the region's reputation for organisation, thrift and punctuality is worn with some pride.

112 for any emergency from any phone, in Polish or English. 999 goes directly to an ambulance dispatcher.