o nie
/ɔ‿ɲɛ/
In Polish, the phrase for "oh no" is o nie.
The phrase is an exclamation of alarm.
Meaning: exclamation of alarm (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
This is a literal translation of the English phrase, where o corresponds to "oh" and nie means "no".
How do you pronounce it?
/ɔ‿ɲɛ/
Did you know?
- To express a more intense 'oh no' or 'dear lord', Poles often use the phrase o rany, which literally translates to 'oh kidneys'.
- In very informal settings, Polish speakers might replace o nie with o kurczę, which literally means 'oh chicken' to avoid using a stronger swear word.
- In Polish, the word nie is used to create a 'double negative' in sentences, which is grammatically required and does not cancel out the negation as it does in English.
Examples in context
- O nie!Oh no!This example shows the basic exclamation o nie.Tatoeba #5627128 by machmet, translation #1299275 by CK
- O nie! Zapomniałam włączyć pralkę.Oh no! I forgot to turn on the washing machine.This example shows how to use o nie when realizing a mistake, such as forgetting to turn on an appliance.Tatoeba #10771704 by hecko, translation #10680215 by CK
- O nie, znowu zgubiłam klucze!Oh no, I lost my keys again!
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Anna and Krzysztof are in the kitchen when they see a broken plate.
- AnnaO nie! Talerz się rozbił.Oh no! The plate broke.
- KrzysztofTo był mój ulubiony talerz.That was my favorite plate.
- AnnaPrzykro mi, Krzysztofie.I am sorry, Krzysztof.
- KrzysztofNic nie szkodzi, sprzątnę to.It's okay, I'll clean it up.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry o nie, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
