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  What it means

  Literally: “to take as a model.” This phrase means to use someone or something as a role model or ideal example to follow and emulate. It is used when recommending or pointing to a person whose behaviour, work ethic, or qualities are worth imitating. For example: “Powinieneś wziąć go za wzór pracowitości” (You should take him as a model of diligence). It can refer to people, organisations, or even abstract examples.

  Vocabulary

  • wziąć — to take (perfective)
  • za — as, for (preposition governing accusative in this sense)
  • wzór — model, pattern, example, role model

  Grammar note

  „Za" here introduces a predicative noun in the accusative case, expressing what someone is taken to be or recognised as — a construction sometimes called the predicative accusative. „Wziąć" is the perfective infinitive of „brać" (to take). For a habitual action, the imperfective „brać za wzór" would be used instead.

  Cultural context

  Neutral to slightly formal register, common in educational, parenting, motivational, and professional speech. It is a sincere, unironic compliment. The English equivalents are "to take as a role model," "to look up to as an example," or "to model oneself on."

  Intermediate

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