• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “clean as a tear” or “pure as a teardrop.” It is used to describe something — or someone — that is spotlessly clean, perfectly pure, or completely innocent, without the slightest blemish or fault. The image draws on the clarity and transparency of a teardrop. For example: “To dziecko ma sumienie czyste jak łza” (That child has a conscience as pure as a tear). It can be used both literally (something is immaculately clean) and figuratively (someone is blameless or morally untainted).

  Vocabulary

  • czysty — clean, pure, clear, innocent
  • jak — like, as (comparative particle)
  • łza — tear (a drop of liquid from the eye)
  • łzy — (genitive of łza) — used in some related expressions
  • sumienie czyste jak łza — a conscience as pure as a teardrop (common colocation)

  Grammar note

  This is a simile construction: adjective + "jak" + nominative noun. "Jak" here introduces a comparison, and both sides share the same implied case. "Łza" is a feminine noun with an irregular declension — its genitive is "łzy," dative "łzie," accusative "łzę." The adjective "czysty" must agree in gender, number, and case with whatever noun it modifies (e.g., czysta woda jak łza — water as pure as a tear).

  Cultural context

  The phrase has a poetic, slightly old-fashioned flavour and is often used with gentle irony — for instance, to describe someone who protests their innocence a little too loudly. It appears frequently in literary texts and proverbs. The closest English equivalents are "pure as the driven snow" or "clean as a whistle," though neither captures the tearful imagery of the Polish original.

  Beginner

Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!