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  What it means

  Literally, “as the mother, so the sprout.” Mać is an old or dialect word for matka (mother), and nać is the leafy top of a carrot, beetroot, or similar plant. The proverb says that children take after their parents, especially their mothers, in character and behaviour. It is close to “like mother, like daughter” and is often said when a child clearly shares a parent’s traits.

  English equivalent

  Like mother, like daughter.

  Vocabulary

  • mać — mother (archaic/dialectal form of matka)
  • nać — the green top of a root vegetable; here used figuratively for 'offspring'
  • jaka — what kind of / as (nominative feminine interrogative/relative adjective)
  • taka — such / so (nominative feminine demonstrative adjective)

  Grammar note

  Jaka X, taka Y means 'as X is, so Y is'. Both jaka and taka are feminine nominative forms and agree with mać and nać. The matching structure and rhyme make this proverb easy to remember.

  Cultural context

  The mać/nać rhyme gives the saying a folk-song sound. Mać also occurs in the coarse phrase 'kurwa mać', but it is innocent and old-fashioned here. The proverb is used across Poland when a child copies a parent's mannerisms.

  Intermediate

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