Language /
Chcę and chce [21]
First there are four pronunciations of word final -ę
-ę (full pronunciation with a final u sound) required on one word, się, when it's stressed, also occaionally but overuse will make you sound like a tool
-ę (some nasalization but no u sound, pretty common)
-e (most common pronunciation)
-em (stigmatized unless used for comic effect)
Again, despite what some people think, most Polish speakers most of the time pronounce word final -ę as -e.
That said, always pronouncing -ę as -e would sound kind of sloppy just as pronouncing the full version as -ę (with the u sound at the end) would sound bizarre.
Some years ago I read a paper by a very eminent Polonist (and phonetician) who said (paraphrasing): the best option is to pronounce some instances of -ę as written and other as -e. The implication was that it was up to the speaker to decide which to use when but that the speaker should strive for a mix of -e and -ę.
