• Listen

  What it means

  Literally: “One hungry person will reproach another.” People in the same hard situation may blame each other instead of helping. Use it when shared trouble leads to criticism rather than support.

  English equivalent

  The pot calling the kettle black.

  Vocabulary

  • głodny — hungry (adjective used as a noun: 'the hungry one')
  • głodnemu — to the hungry one (dative singular, indicating the recipient of the reproach)
  • wypomni — will reproach / will bring up as a fault (perfective future of 'wypomnieć')

  Grammar note

  'Wypomnieć' means to bring up something as a fault. It takes the dative for the person blamed, here 'głodnemu'. Repeating 'głodny/głodnemu' shows that both people are in the same position.

  Cultural context

  The saying comes from older proverb collections and now sounds slightly literary. Unlike the English equivalent, it focuses on people sharing the same hardship, not simply on hypocrisy.

  Intermediate

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!