You must have learned about proverbs in your English grammar class in school. These are traditional sayings specific to a country. They are written in a short and wise form with an internal deep meaning that is a form of advice. English proverbs are often used by the native English speakers in their conversations. These sayings are passed on from generation and you just say it without even realizing it. Proverbs tell about the culture of a country and the values of the people living there.

You can illustrate a point using a proverb. They are often symbolic or metaphorical in nature and so are different from the regular speech. People have been using proverbs from the early years. You will be surprised to know that the earliest recorded proverbs go back 2000 BCE, during the time of the ancient Sumerians. The scientists have discovered about 1000 proverbs written by the Sumerians.

Proverbs vs. idioms

Many people get confused with the use of proverbs and idioms. Both are short and challenging to extract meaning from. However, they are distinctively different. Idioms are phrases and frequently used in poetry. Proverbs, on the other hand, are advice.

It is a common practice to include a few proverbs in creative writing to make it more interesting. You can include proverbs in essays. You may use proverbs as prompts of a story too. Read a number of writings where proverbs are used and learn how to incorporate them in different forms of writing. But before you can use proverbs in your writing, you must know their meaning.


Here are the most popular English proverbs and their meanings.

1. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Meaning: Children is likely to be like their parents in terms of appearance and behavior.
2. "A picture is worth a thousand words." Meaning: Image can convey meanings in a better way than words can describe.
3. "All that glitters is not gold." Meaning: Something that appears true or valuable may not be so.
4. Beggars can't be choosers. Meaning: People who depend on the generosity of others for their basic needs should be happy with what is offered to them. They don't have the right to choose something.
5. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Meaning: If you eat healthy food like an apple every day, you will be healthy and won't fall easily. So, it won't be necessary to call a doctor for a checkup or diagnosis.
6. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Meaning: What you already have in hand is better than what you might get as you are unsure whether you will finally get it.
7. "Better safe than sorry." Meaning: It is better to take necessary precautions than to regret the consequences later on.
8 "Blood is thicker than water." Meaning: Relationships between family members are the strongest of all kinds of relationships.
9. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Meaning: Don't make plans depending on events that haven't happened.
10. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Meaning: When you visit a new place, embrace the local ways of life without judging anything.
11. "Every cloud has a silver lining." Meaning: No matter what difficult situation you are in, you must always look at the positive side of it.
12. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Meaning: To achieve a long-term goal, you must take the first step.
13. "Two wrongs don't make a right." Meaning: Someone's wrongful conduct is not a justification for acting in a similar way.
14. "The pen is mightier than the sword." Meaning: Written words are more powerful than actions or weapons.
15. "Necessity is the mother of invention." Meaning: When you really need something, you should think of a way to make it happen.
16/ "Birds of a feather flock together." Meaning: People have the tendency to stick together with other like-minded people.
17. "Rome wasn't built in a day." Meaning: Important or big works don't happen within a short time. It takes time.
18. "Time waits for no one." Meaning: Don't delay taking decisions or action, as we have no control over the passage of time.
19. "When there's smoke, there's fire." Meaning: If there are indications that something is true, it usually is.
20. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Meaning: If something works well, don't try to change it.
21. "Too many cooks spoil the broth." Meaning: Too many people working on the same project can lead to a negative result.
22. "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Meaning: It's impossible to satisfy two opposite desires.
23. "Out of sight, out of mind." Meaning: When you lose sight of anything, you will eventually forget about it.
24. "All is well that ends well." Meaning: Everything is acceptable if the ending is favorable.
25. "Two heads are better than one." Meaning: Two people can do a better job together than a person doing the job alone.
26. "Look before you leap." Meaning: Always be careful before doing something important.
27. "Robbing Peter to save Paul." Meaning: When somebody harms one person to cause some benefit to another person.
28. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Meaning: Coming out of one difficult situation and getting into another one.
29. "Better late than never ." Meaning: "It is better to delay something than not doing it at all."
30. "Every dog has his day." Meaning: Every person can have lucky days and better outcomes.
31. "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket." Meaning: Don't throw all your resources into achieving a single goal.
32. "Easy come easy go." Meaning: Something that comes easily goes also easily.
33. "Fortune favors the bold." Meaning: Those who are courageous to take risks are more successful than those who always do things with caution.
34. "God helps those who help themselves." Meaning: If you make an effort to make things a reality then you will get results instead of just sitting around and hoping for the best.
35. "Good things come to those who wait." Meaning: Good things will happen to you if you are patient.

People use English proverbs in writing and speech to establish morals, give advice, share knowledge, console others, or release personal tension. If you want to illustrate a specific point then use a proverb. There are hundreds of proverbs that people have been using over and over again. You just need to pick the right one for your context to make your sentence meaningful.