Level: Beginners (A1/A2)
Category: General
Containers, quantities and measurements in Polish Table of contents
- How to use containers/measurements in Polish
- Containers/Measurements vocab
- Kawałek - piece (or sometimes translates as slice)
- Plasterek - slice
- Kromka - slice (of bread)
- Kostka - Piece or pack
- Pudełko - Box
- Paczka - Packet
- Kubek - Cup (or mug)
- Filiżanka - Cup
- Puszka - Tin/can
- Butelka - Bottle
- Słoik - Jar
- Skrzynka - Crate
- Wazon - Vase
- Kieszeń - pocketful
- Trochę - Some
- Kropla - Drop of
- Pół - Half
- Litr - Liter
- Kilogram/Kilo - Kilogram
- Dekagramów - Dekagrams (10 gram)
- See full list of contains and measurements in Polish, and take a free online test
How to use containers/measurements in Polish
After using these containers/measurements (see table below), you use Genitive case! This is very important!
Containers/Measurements vocab
Kawałek - piece (or sometimes translates as slice)
Kawałek is often translated to "piece". But really in some sentences we would say 'slice' in English. See the examples below:
Kawałek pizzy - a piece (slice) of pizza. Note: Pizza ([nominitive]) gets turned into pizzy because it is now in Genitive case. After all of these containers/measurements on this page, you should use Genitive case!
kawałek mięsa - a piece of meat
Plasterek - slice
This is used for things like "a slice of cheese" etc.
Examples:
Plasterek pomarańczowy - orange slice
Kromka - slice (of bread)
Kromka is only really used for a slice of bread.
e.g. kromka chleba (a slice of bread)
Kostka - Piece or pack
Kostka is used for things like butter (a piece/packet of butter = kostka masła), or
a packet of sugar
Pudełko - Box
For example, this is used for pudełko zapałek - a box of matches
Paczka - Packet
paczka means a package or parcel.
Kubek - Cup (or mug)
This is used when you have a cup of something - like a cup of coffee in Polish is Kubek kawy, or a cup of cola
Filiżanka - Cup
This is similar to a kubek, but is smaller (often used for tea).
Compare the Google image search for Kubek vs Filiżanka to get an idea of what each one really refers to.
Puszka - Tin/can
For a can of beer - puszka piwa.
Butelka - Bottle
Bottle of water - Butelka wody
Słoik - Jar
For things like a jar of jam - słoik dżemu
Skrzynka - Crate
For a crate of apples - skrzynka jabłek
Wazon - Vase
Kieszeń - pocketful
Trochę - Some
A very useful word, that is used extensively in the Polish language. Troche means 'some' or 'a little bit'.
Some beer - trochę piwa
Kropla - Drop of
For example - Drop of water - Kropla wody
Pół - Half
See our page on numbers and fractions for more examples.
Litr - Liter
Litr = liter (litre).
Kilogram/Kilo - Kilogram
Both of these words are used to refer to a kilogram.
Dekagramów - Dekagrams (10 gram)
1 dekagram (also known as 1 deka) = 10 grams. So 200 grams = 20 deka.
See full list of contains and measurements in Polish, and take a free online test
see here for the words in Polish and here for a free online test in Polish, for these container words.