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  What it means

  Literally “as you raised your son, so he will deal with you.” The proverb states that the way parents bring up their children will be reflected in how those children treat their parents in old age. It is a moral lesson about parenting: invest care, respect, and good values in your children, and they will return the same. Neglect or harshness will come back around.

  English equivalent

  As you sow, so shall you reap.

  Vocabulary

  • jakoś — as you (how you) — archaic/dialectal contraction of jak + ś (familiar past marker)
  • chował — raised / brought up (third person singular masculine past tense of chować)
  • poczyna — begins to act / deals with (third person singular present of poczynać)
  • syna — son (genitive singular of syn, object of chował)

  Grammar note

  Chował is the imperfective past tense expressing a prolonged activity (the process of raising a child). Poczynać (to begin, to act) is used here in the sense of 'to treat' or 'to behave toward.' The archaic -ś suffix on jakoś marks second-person past agreement, a feature of older Polish now found mainly in proverbs and folk speech.

  Cultural context

  This proverb belongs to a large family of Polish sayings about the reciprocal obligations between parents and children. It reflects a traditional view of the family in which old-age care was the expected return for good parenting. It is less commonly heard among younger urban Poles today but still recognised, especially in rural areas and among older generations.

  Intermediate

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