Fortuna kołem się toczy
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What it means
Fortune turns like a wheel, so luck keeps changing. Good times can end, and bad times can improve.
Vocabulary
- fortuna — fortune, luck
- koło — wheel, circle
- toczyć się — to roll, to turn, to move along
Grammar note
'Kołem' is the instrumental of 'koło' and shows how something moves: like a wheel. The reflexive form 'się toczy' describes movement happening on its own.
Cultural context
The image of the Wheel of Fortune is old and found across Europe. The Polish saying comes from the same long tradition.
Beginner
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