są / kawę

the nasal vowels "ą / ę" — hum them (ę at word-end → plain "e")

Common trap for English speakers The nasal vowels ą/ę don't exist in English, so learners either drop the nasality or over-do it into "-eng/-em". At the end of a word ę softens to a plain "e" (kawę → "KA-ve"), while ą stays nasal (są → "son").