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  What it means

  Literally: “Work that is put off is worth little.” The proverb warns that delaying or procrastinating on a task reduces its value — either because the work itself loses quality when done late, or because the habit of postponing things is itself a kind of failure. It encourages tackling tasks promptly and decisively. Poles use it to criticise procrastination or to motivate themselves and others to start without delay.

  English equivalent

  Procrastination is the thief of time.

  Vocabulary

  • praca — work / task (nominative singular)
  • odkładana — put off / postponed (present passive participle of 'odkładać', agreeing with 'praca')
  • niewiele — little / not much (adverb)
  • warta — worth (short-form adjective, feminine to agree with 'praca'; from 'warty')

  Grammar note

  The proverb uses the short-form adjective 'warta' (worth) rather than the full form 'warta jest' — the copula 'jest' is omitted in this proverb-style construction, which is common in maxims and set phrases. 'Odkładana' is a present passive participle functioning as a modifier: 'praca odkładana' = 'work that is being put off'. The short adjective form 'warta' only exists in the predicate position and cannot be used attributively.

  Cultural context

  Anti-procrastination proverbs are common across many cultures, and this Polish version belongs to a cluster of folk sayings emphasising that time and opportunity are not to be wasted. The saying has a slightly formal register and is more likely to be heard from older speakers or in written collections. In everyday Polish, younger speakers might more naturally say 'nie odkładaj na później' ('don't put it off till later'), but the proverb adds moral weight to the same message.

  Intermediate

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