No. 7 in Polish
a
The Polish word "a" means "and," "but," or "whereas," depending on the context.
In a sentence
Ona lubi jabłka, a on woli gruszki.
She likes apples, and he prefers pears.
In this sentence, 'a' is used as a conjunction indicating a contrast between the preferences of two people.
Anna szuka książki, a zeszytu nie może znaleźć.
Anna is looking for a book, but cannot find her notebook.
Here, 'a' serves to contrast two actions, highlighting one that is successfully done versus another that isn't.
Piotr mieszka w Warszawie, a to oznacza, że często odwiedza rodzinę w okolicy.
Piotr lives in Warsaw, which means he often visits family nearby.
In this case, 'a' introduces a clause that provides reasoning or explanation for the first clause.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “a” in actual Polish podcasts.
Find “a” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays Polish podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there.
Get the appPolish books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).