Breakdown of Jaki ojciec, taki syn.
ojciec
father
syn
son
taki
such, this kind of
jaki
what kind of, what ... like (asks for an adjective)
Questions & Answers about Jaki ojciec, taki syn.
How does the jaki..., taki... pattern translate to "like"?
Literally, jaki means "what kind of" and taki means "such" or "that kind of". The sentence translates word-for-word as "What kind of father, such a son." This pair of words is the standard Polish way to express the English "Like X, like Y" comparison.
Can I use this pattern to say "Like mother, like daughter"?
Yes, but remember that jaki and taki act like adjectives, so they must match the gender of the nouns. For feminine nouns like matka (mother) and córka (daughter), you would use the feminine forms: Jaka matka, taka córka.
Why isn't there a verb like jest (is) in this sentence?
Polish proverbs and fixed sayings often drop the verb być (to be) to sound punchier and more poetic. While Jaki jest ojciec, taki jest syn is grammatically correct, omitting the verbs gives it the rhythm of a classic proverb, just like English does in "Like father, like son."
Why are ojciec and syn in the nominative case instead of the instrumental?
Normally, when you link two nouns with the verb "to be", the second noun takes the instrumental case (for example, On jest ojcem). However, because the verb is completely dropped here and the structure is a side-by-side comparison rather than a standard "A is B" sentence, both nouns stay in their basic dictionary form (the nominative case).
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