The biggest spelling reform in 90 years has taken place in the Polish language. What has changed?

Changes have been introduced in the Polish language, which TVP World calls the most significant reform since 1936. "Belsat" writes about the changes.

Words with capital and small letters

In the names of comets, the word "kometa" (comet) should be written with a capital letter: Kometa Halleya, Kometa Enckego.

In the names of public spaces – parks, avenues, churches, palaces, posts, cemeteries, and so on – the first word should be written with a capital letter: Aleja Róż, Brama Warszawska, Plac Zbawiciela, Park Kościuszki, and so on. The following list of such words is provided: aleja, brama, bulwar, osiedle, plac, park, kopiec, kościół, klasztor, pałac, willa, zamek, most, molo, pomnik, cmentarz.

Exception – the word "ulica" (street) starts with a small letter: ulica Józefa Piłsudskiego. Judging by the dictionary, there are other exceptions: the words góra, morze, wyspa and others should be written with a small letter, but there is no list of such words. Presumably, these are all words that are not included in the list of those to be written with a capital letter.

Also, all words (except prepositions and conjunctions) in the names of institutions should be written with a capital letter: Karczma Słupska, Kawiarnia Literacka, Księgarnia Naukowa, Kino Charlie, Apteka pod Orlem, and so on. But if the first word is considered a general definition and not part of the name, it can be written with a small letter: kawiarnia Literacka, apteka Pod Orlem.

The same applies to the names of medals, orders, and other awards and titles: Literacka Nagroda Europy Środkowej Angelus, Nagroda Artystyczna Miasta Lublin, Honorowy Obywatel Miasta Krakowa.

Names of inhabitants of cities, villages, and districts are now written with a capital letter: Warszawianin, Zgierzanin, Ochocianka, Mokotowianin. Unofficial ethnic names (unlike official ones) can be written with a small letter: kitajec / Kitajec and szkop / Szkop, but only Chińczyk and Niemiec.

Names of companies, brands, and product models should also be written with a capital letter: samochód marki Ford, pod oknem zaparkował czerwony Ford. But if a brand name denotes an entire type of product, it can be written with a small letter: rower — this is a bicycle, not only manufactured by the Rover company, but any; adydasy — these are sports shoes, not only from the Adidas company.

Adjectives formed from names and surnames should be written with a small letter: dramat szekspirowski, epoka zygmuntowska, koncert chopinowski, wiersz miłoszowski. But adjectives from names and surnames ending in -owy, -in, -yn, and -ów can be written with either a capital or a small letter: poezja miłoszowa / poezja Miłoszowa, zosina lalka / Zosina lalka, jacków dom / Jacków dom.

Writing together and separately

Particles -bym, byś, by, -byśmy, -byście should be written separately, "with a space": zastanawiam się, czy by nie pojechać w góry.

Nie— (not) with adjectives and adverbs should always be written together, unless there is a contrast: niebiedny / nie biedny, ale bogaty; niedługo / nie długo, ale krótko.

If a word starts with pół— (half of something), it should be written together: półzartem, półserio. However, there are vaguely described exceptions with such an example of writing with a hyphen: pół-Polka, pół-Francuzka. From the general set of rules, it follows that the condition for writing with a hyphen is a capital letter in the "main" word.

Prefixes niby– and quasi— (judging by the general set of rules, also all "non-independent" ones) should be written without a hyphen: nibyartysta, nibygotyk, quasinauka, quasiromantycznie. But if the "main" word starts with a capital letter, then with a hyphen: niby-Polak, quasi-Anglia (unlike the previous point, here the condition under which the exception applies is indicated).

However, other prefixes, such as super-, ekstra-, eko-, wege— mini-, maksi, midi-, mega-, makro-, can be written either together with the main word or separately: miniwieża / mini wieża, ekożywność / eko żywność. This is permissible if the prefix can be placed after the "main" word: wieża mini, żywność eko. And these prefixes before words with a capital letter can be written separately or with a hyphen.

Paired expressions of identical or similar words can be written together, separately, or with a comma: tuż-tuż / tuż, tuż / tuż tuż; trzask-prask / trzask, prask / trzask prask; bij-zabij / bij, zabij / bij zabij.

What is important to know for those who will take the exam?

The Central Examination Board has introduced a transitional 5-year period. In 2026-30, both old and new rules will be acceptable on school exams (ósmoklasisty, maturalnych i eksternistycznych). Only in 2031 will the new rules become mandatory.

How the new rules will be accounted for in Polish language exams as a foreign language, necessary for obtaining citizenship, long-term or permanent residency, as well as university admission, is unknown. However, in these exams, spelling errors have little impact on the final grade.

• 8
• 0
• 1
• 9
• 5
• 0
• 0
• 1