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  What it means

  Literally “the soul would like to go to heaven, but sins won’t allow it.” Means you’d love to do something but your past actions or current circumstances prevent it. Used to express the gap between desire and reality — wanting something you can’t have due to your own failings.

  Vocabulary

  • dusza — soul
  • raj — paradise / heaven
  • grzechy — sins (plural)
  • dawać — to allow / to let (here: nie dają — won't let)

  Grammar note

  'Chciałaby' is the conditional of 'chcieć' (feminine, agreeing with 'dusza'). 'Do raju' uses the genitive after 'do.' 'Nie dają' — third person plural, with 'grzechy' as subject.

  Cultural context

  A deeply Catholic idiom reflecting the tension between human desire and moral constraint. Very widely known in Poland.

  Intermediate

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