Fingers And Toes

Let's look at some words relating to fingers and toes.

palec - finger; toe

"Palec" is probably used most often to mean "finger" but can also mean "toe" (sort of like "dedo" in Spanish or "doigt" in French).

Here are the declensions for "palec."  The first value is singular and the second is plural.

nominative - palec, palce
genitive - palca, palców
dative - palcowi, palcom
accusative - palec, palce
instrumental - palcem, palcami
locative - palcu, palcach
vocative - palcu, palce

Here are all the fingers described:

kciuk - thumb
palec wskazujący - index finger
palec środkowy - middle finger
palec serdeczny - ring finger
mały palec - little finger

Examples:

odcisk palca - fingerprint
trzymać za kogoś kciuki - keep one’s fingers crossed for someone
wytykać kogoś palcami - to point the finger at somebody
Moje palce są zimne jak lód - My fingers are cold as ice
pstrykać palcami - to snap one's fingers
wskazywać palcem - to point
liczyć na palcach - to count (off) on one's fingers
mieć lepkie palce - to have sticky fingers

Some derivative words:

palcować - to finger (verb)
palcowanie - fingering (noun)
palcówka - musical finger exercise, fingerfucking (vulgar) (noun)
palczak - fingerling (noun)

Let's not forget the toes.  Even though "toe" uses the same word, it can be differentiated by adding "u nogi (stopy)" or looking at the context.

Examples:

duży palec (u nogi) - big toe
mały palec (u nogi/stopy) - little toe
stawać na palcach - to stand on one's toes
wspinać się na palce -to stand on one's toes
stąpać/chodzić na palcach - to walk on tiptoe

And also:

paznokieć - fingernail, toenail

Here are the declensions for "paznokieć."  Once again, the first value is singular and the second is plural.

nominative - paznokieć, paznokcie
genitive - paznokcia, paznokci
dative - paznokciowi, paznokciom
accusative - paznokieć, paznokcie
instrumental - paznokciem, paznokciami
locative - paznokciu, paznokciach
vocative - paznokciu, paznokcie

Examples:

obcinać paznokcie - to cut one's nails
obgryzać paznokcie - to chew one's nails
piłować paznokcie - to file one's nails
paznokieć u nogi - toenail

There also exists the word "paznokciowy" (adjective meaning "pertaining to a finger/toe nail"), where one can see the relation to the word "kciuk" ("thumb").