KANAE
041Japanese proverb ことわざ

蛙の子は蛙

Kaeru no ko wa kaeru

“The child of a frog is a frog.”

The meaning

Children inherit more than we think: gestures, tastes, ways of doing. The proverb is used with humor and tenderness, rarely as fate.

At the origin

A familiar proverb, often said with a smile about a family resemblance.

The characters

  1. 蛙 kaerufrog
  2. の noof (link)
  3. 子
  4. は
  5. 蛙

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.

In practice

What you repeat in front of the young will one day look like them.

Themes

Similar proverbs

  1. 166 "Catch me the moon!" cries the child.
  2. 020 Dumplings over flowers.
  3. 054 Send the child you cherish on a journey.
  4. 055 The child does not know the parent's heart.
  5. 056 A child is the clamp of the home.

Related expressions

  1. 017 The frog at the bottom of the well knows nothing of the great ocean.
  2. 160 Old pond — a frog leaps in, sound of water.
  3. 163 Skinny frog, do not give up — Issa is here.
  4. 205 Water on a frog's face.

See also