the grass is always greener on the other side

English

A cow, kneeling to eat grass on the other side of a barbed wire fence.

Alternative forms

• the grass is always greener
• the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
• the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

Proverb

the grass is always greener on the other side

1. The circumstances of others seem more desirable than one's own but in reality often are not.

Translations

others' circumstances seem more desirable than one's own but in reality often are not.

• Arabic: طبيخ الجارة نوارة، وطبيخ أهل الدار مرار
• Bengali: ঘাস অন্য দিকে সবসময় সবুজ (ghaś onno dike śobśomoẏ śobuj)
• Catalan: l'herba sempre és més verda a l'altra banda
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 隔籬飯香／隔篱饭香 (gaak³ lei⁴ faan⁶ hoeng¹, literally “next door's rice smells good”)

  Mandarin: 這山望著那山高／这山望着那山高 (zhè shān wàng zhe nà shān gāo, literally “the next mountain looks taller”), 外國的月亮比較圓／外国的月亮比较圆 (literally “the moon in foreign countries is rounder”)

• Danish: græsset er altid grønnere på den anden side af hækken (literally “the grass is always greener on the other side of the hedges”), græsset er altid grønnere på den anden side (da)
• Dutch: het gras is altijd groener bij de buren, het gras is altijd groener aan de overkant
• Esperanto: herbaro ĉiam aspektas pli verda trans barilo (literally “the grass always look greener on the other side of a fence”)
• Finnish: ruoho on aina vihreämpää aidan toisella puolella
• French: l’herbe est toujours plus verte ailleurs (fr), l’herbe est toujours plus verte dans le pré du voisin (fr), l’herbe est plus verte ailleurs (fr)
• Galician: a vaca da veciña dá máis leite cá miña (literally “the neighbor's cow gives more milk than mine”)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: die Kirschen aus Nachbars Garten schmecken immer besser, die Kirschen aus Nachbars Garten schmecken immer noch am besten
• Greek: του γείτονα είναι πάντα καλύτερο (tou geítona eínai pánta kalýtero), το ξένο είναι πιο γλυκό (to xéno eínai pio glykó)
• Hebrew: הַדֶּשֶׁא שֶׁל הַשָּׁכֵן יָרֹק יוֹתֵר (he) (ha-déshe shel ha-shakhén yarók yotér), הַדֶּשֶׁא שֶׁל הַשָּׁכֵן תָּמִיד יָרֹק יוֹתֵר (he) (ha-déshe shel ha-shakhén tamíd yarók yotér)
• Hindi: दूर के ढोल सुहावने (dūr ke ḍhol suhāvne), दूर के ढोल सुहावने लगते हैं (dūr ke ḍhol suhāvne lagte ha͠i, literally “from far away, the drums sound better”)
• Hungarian: a szomszéd rétje mindig zöldebb (hu) (literally “the neighbour's meadow is always greener”)
• Indonesian: rumput tetangga selalu terlihat lebih hijau
• Irish: is glas na cnoic a bhfad uainn (literally “green are the hills that are far from us”)
• Italian: l'erba del vicino è sempre più verde (literally “the neighbor's grass is always greener”)
• Japanese: 隣の芝生は青く見える (となりのしばふはあおくみえる, tonari no shibafu wa aoku mieru, literally “the neighbor's lawn seems green”), 隣の芝生は青い (となりのしばふはあおい, tonari no shibafu wa aoi, literally “the neighbor's lawn is green”), 隣の花は赤い (となりのはなはあかい, tonari no hana wa akai, literally “the neighbor's flowers are red”)
• Korean: 남의 떡이 더 커 보인다 (namui tteogi deo keo boinda), 먼 무당이 용하다 (meon mudang'i yonghada, literally “the shaman from far away is more skilled”)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dengê defe ji dûr ve xweş e (ku)

• Malay: hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, baik juga di negeri sendiri
• Malayalam: അക്കരെ നിന്നാൽ ഇക്കരെ പച്ച (akkare ninnāl ikkare pacca, literally “if you stand on the other shore, this side is greener”)
• Marathi: दुरून डोंगर साजरे (durūn ḍoṅgar sājre)
• Moksha: цебярь тоса, ашат коса (ćebäŕ tosa, ašat kosa)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gresset er alltid grønnere på den andre siden (no)

  Nynorsk: graset er alltid grønare på den andre sida

• Persian: مرغ همسایه غازه
• Polish: wszędzie dobrze, gdzie nas nie ma (literally “it is good everywhere where we are not”)
• Portuguese: a grama do vizinho é sempre mais verde (pt) (literally “the neighbor's grass is always greener”)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: сосе́дняя о́чередь всегда́ дви́жется быстре́е (sosédnjaja óčeredʹ vsegdá dvížetsja bystréje, literally “the other queue always moves faster”), там хорошо́, где нас нет (tam xorošó, gde nas net, literally “it is good everywhere where we are not”), (vulgar) в чужи́х рука́х то́лще (ru) (v čužíx rukáx tólšče)
• Scottish Gaelic: 's e miann na lacha an loch air nach bi i (literally “the duck's desire is the lake it is not on”), tha iteagan bòidheach air na h-eòin a tha fad às (literally “the birds that are far away have beautiful feathers”)
• Spanish: la hierba siempre es más verde del otro lado, el pasto siempre es más verde del otro lado
• Swedish: gräset är alltid grönare på andra sidan
• Telugu: దూరపు కొండలు నునుపు (dūrapu koṇḍalu nunupu), పొరుగింటి పుల్లకూర రుచి (te) (porugiṇṭi pullakūra ruci)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: davulun sesi uzaktan hoş gelir (literally “the distant drum sounds pleasant”)
• Ukrainian: у сусі́да ха́та бі́ла (u susída xáta bíla), у сусі́да ха́та білі́ша (u susída xáta bilíša), до́бре там, де нас нема́ (dóbre tam, de nas nemá, literally “it is better there, where we are not”)
• Vietnamese: đứng núi này trông núi nọ (vi) (literally “standing on one mountain, gazing at another”)

See also

• familiarity breeds contempt
• forbidden fruit is the sweetest
• greener pastures
• how the other half lives