How to find the meaning of proverbs

A proverb is a short saying that is widely used to express an obvious truth. Because of the length, you do need to interpret proverbs more widely beyond their few words to gain meaning from them. In many cases, the words represent something else and are figurative.

Here’s how you can find the meaning (and then put it in your own words).

1. Look at key components.
2. How do they relate to one another.
3. Extend this relationship to a ‘real’ life example.

Let’s look at this proverb:

A tree is known by its fruit.

1. Key components are “tree”, “fruit”, “is known by”.
2. How do they relate? Well, a tree produces fruit (say an apple tree) and it can do this only if it has the right ‘resources’ like light, soil, water etc… “Is known by” means that people recognise the source, i.e. the tree by what it produces. If the fruit is bad, then the tree is bad. If the fruit is good, then the tree is good.
3. Apply this relationship to ‘real life’. A person’s worth or character is determined by what they produce i.e. how they behave and their actions. While there are other interpretations e.g. people judge you by what you do.

Easy right?

When you have a step-by-step process and break down the proverb into parts and see how the part relate to one another, you can find meaning in the few words.

Let's look at this process in the examples below. We'll also put into practice the approach to answering questions learnt in previous checkpoints.

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

1. What is the meaning of each of the following proverbs?
2. How has this meaning been conveyed through language?

• A monkey in silk is a monkey no less.
• Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.
• It’s no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.
• Even a small star shines in the darkness
• An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
• Better to stumble than make a slip of the tongue.
• A bad worker always blames their tools.
• A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
• You can’t have your cake and eat it.

Key Rules to remember

• Break down the important terms and see how they relate to one another to find the ‘relationship'
• Extend that relationship more widely to a ‘real life’ example to get the intended meaning.

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

Click on the button below and start your practice questions. We recommend doing untimed mode first, and then, when you're ready, do timed mode.

Every question has two solutions videos after you complete the question. The first is a quick 60 second video that shows you how our expert answers the question quickly. The second video is a more in-depth 5-steps or less explainer video that shows you the steps to take to answer the question. It's really important that you review the second video because that's where you'll learn additional tips and tricks.

Once you're done with the practice questions, move on to the next checkpoint.

Now, let's get started on your practice questions.