Jeden ojciec dziesięć synów wychowa, a dziesięć synów jednego ojca żywić nie mogą
Listen
What it means
One father can raise ten sons, but ten sons cannot feed one father. A bitter observation about filial ingratitude — parents sacrifice everything for their children, but children rarely repay the debt.
English equivalent
One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.
Vocabulary
- wychować — to raise, to bring up
- żywić — to feed, to support
- syn — son
- ojciec — father
Grammar note
'Wychowa' is future perfective third person singular. 'Żywić nie mogą' — 'mogą' is third person plural present of 'móc'. 'Jednego ojca' is genitive after 'żywić' (direct object in the negative).
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!
More Polish proverbs
- "A stepmother, even if made of sugar, is always bitter." No matter how kind a stepmother tries to …
- "For a wise head, two words are enough." A clever person needs only a brief hint to understand; …
- "A Pole is wise after the damage is done." Poles (or people in general) tend to learn from mistakes …
- "The wise will accept advice; the fool will scorn it." Intelligent people are open to counsel, while …