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  What it means

  Literally: “Rome was not built at once.” Just as the great city of Rome took centuries of sustained effort to construct, any great achievement requires time, patience, and consistent work. The proverb is used to encourage someone who is frustrated by slow progress or impatient for results — a reminder that worthwhile things cannot be rushed. It’s one of the most universally known proverbs in Polish.

  English equivalent

  Rome wasn't built in a day.

  Vocabulary

  • nie — not
  • od razu — immediately, at once, all at once (idiomatic)
  • Rzym — Rome (masculine proper noun)
  • zbudowano — was built (impersonal passive past of zbudować)

  Grammar note

  "Zbudowano" is an impersonal passive construction — the third-person singular neuter past of the perfective verb "zbudować" (to build). Polish uses this form without specifying an agent: where English says "Rome was built," Polish says "(it was) built Rome" without a grammatical subject. This agentless passive is very common in Polish and differs structurally from English passive voice.

  Cultural context

  This proverb is a direct translation of the Latin "Roma non uno die aedificata est" and is fully internationalized. It is neutral in register, widely known by all generations, and used across contexts — from motivating a struggling student to advising patience in a business project. It is one of the first proverbs many Polish learners encounter.

  Beginner

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