Kinship Terms

This is a list of basic kinship terms. The formal column contains terms you would see on official documents and records, they are almost never used to address the person to whom they refer. Instead, the terms in the informal column are used. These are the standard Polish terms (given in the nominal case), but of course you will find regional variations. Polish-American descendants also tend to use more archaic terminology (especially for grandma and grandpa) as they have been cut off from the living language. Modern Poles would still recognize the words, but would probably think it odd that you were using an archaic form. Note also that in Polish (unlike English) there is a distinction between some maternal and paternal family members.