ProverbHuman Nature
Portuguese origin
Portuguese originFilho de peixe sabe nadar
Meaning: Children inherit their parents' skills.
Literally: A fish's child knows how to swim
Example: “O pai é chef e o filho já cozinha muito bem. Filho de peixe sabe nadar.” — The father is a chef and the son already cooks very well: like father, like son.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 6 more languages
English: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree
French: La pomme ne tombe jamais loin de l'arbre (literally: The apple never falls far from the tree)
Spanish: De tal palo, tal astilla (literally: From such a stick, such a splinter)
Japanese: 蛙の子は蛙 (Kaeru no ko wa kaeru) (literally: A frog's child is a frog)
German: Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm (literally: The apple does not fall far from the trunk)
Italian: Tale padre, tale figlio (literally: Like father, like son)
Dutch: De appel valt niet ver van de boom (literally: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree)
Russian: Яблоко от яблони недалеко падает (Yabloko ot yabloni nedaleko padaet) (literally: The apple falls not far from the apple tree)
Polish: Niedaleko pada jabłko od jabłoni (literally: The apple falls not far from the apple tree)
Chinese: 有其父必有其子 (Yǒu qí fù bì yǒu qí zǐ) (literally: Such a father, such a son)
Arabic: ابن الوز عوام (Ibn il-wizz ʿawwām) (literally: The gosling is a swimmer)
Origin: No fish has to teach its young to swim. Arabic has the same idea with a gosling: ابن الوز عوام.
Explore another collection: Idioms
Colorful expressions from dozens of languages, with their word-for-word translations.
- do dia para a noite Very suddenly or extremely quickly.
- vaca sagrada Something so valued or protected that it cannot be criticized, changed, or harmed.
- morrer de rir To laugh very hard or uproariously.
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