• Listen

  What it means

  When birds sing in January, their beaks will freeze in May. Unseasonably warm winters are followed by cold springs.

  Vocabulary

  • ptak — bird
  • styczeń — January
  • śpiewać — to sing
  • dziób — beak, bill
  • zamarzać — to freeze

  Grammar note

  'Im zamarzają dzioby' uses the dative 'im' (to them) as the experiencer. 'Dzioby' is the nominative plural of 'dziób'.

  Cultural context

  A folk weather proverb warning that a mild January is a bad omen — cold will come later in the year.

  Intermediate

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