• Listen

  What it means

  Literally: “This one his own, and that one his own.” The proverb describes a situation where two people (or parties) each insist on their own view, opinion, or way of doing things — and neither budges. It captures the feeling of a fruitless argument or deadlock where both sides talk past each other. Poles use it with a resigned or amused shrug when a debate has gone nowhere.

  English equivalent

  To each their own.

  Vocabulary

  • ten — this one, that one (masculine demonstrative pronoun)
  • swoje — his/her/its own (accusative/nominative neuter of swój)
  • a — and, while, but (contrastive conjunction)
  • swój — one's own (reflexive possessive pronoun)

  Grammar note

  'Swoje' is the accusative neuter form of the reflexive possessive pronoun 'swój', referring back to the subject — 'his/her own (thing/view)'. The full implied sentence might be 'Ten mówi swoje, a ten mówi swoje' (this one says his thing, and that one says his thing). The ellipsis of the verb is typical of idiomatic Polish expressions and proverbs.

  Cultural context

  This phrase is often used in family or political arguments to describe a communication breakdown — two people each stubbornly repeating their position. It carries a note of resigned humor and is typically said by a third party observing the argument rather than one of the participants. The register is colloquial and common across all generations.

  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!