Anything in Different Languages
Discover 'Anything' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'anything' is a small but powerful term, open-ended and filled with possibility. It represents the idea of limitless potential, of being able to encompass all things and ideas. This makes it a culturally significant word, as it speaks to our shared human experience of curiosity and exploration.
Moreover, the translation of 'anything' in different languages can offer a unique window into the cultures and histories of various countries. For instance, in Spanish, 'anything' is 'cualquier cosa,' which reflects the language's rich and complex grammar. Meanwhile, in Japanese, 'anything' is 'なんでも' (nandemo), a phrase that highlights the language's minimalist beauty.
Understanding the translation of 'anything' in different languages can also be practical and useful. Whether you're traveling abroad, studying a new language, or simply looking to expand your cultural knowledge, knowing how to express 'anything' in various tongues can be a valuable skill.
So, without further ado, here are some translations of 'anything' in different languages:
Anything
Anything in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | enigiets | ||
| The word "enigiets" in Afrikaans can also refer to "anything at all" or "any kind." | |||
| Amharic | ማንኛውንም ነገር | ||
| Hausa | komai | ||
| Derived from the phrase "komai ta" meaning "all things". | |||
| Igbo | ihe ọ bụla | ||
| The Igbo word "ihe ọ bụla" can also refer to "every single thing" or "everyone". | |||
| Malagasy | inona na inona akory | ||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | chilichonse | ||
| "Chilichonse" in Nyanja is derived from "chi" (a thing) and "chilichonse" (all things), implying "everything" or "anything." | |||
| Shona | chero chinhu | ||
| Chero chinhu literally means "what/that which is there" or "that which is" in Shona. | |||
| Somali | wax kasta | ||
| The Somali word wax-kasta ('anything') literally means "every piece of talk" or "every word." | |||
| Sesotho | eng kapa eng | ||
| The word "eng kapa eng" can also refer to a person who is not specific about what they want or need. | |||
| Swahili | chochote | ||
| The word "chochote" in Swahili can also be used as a pronoun meaning "someone" or "anyone". | |||
| Xhosa | nantoni na | ||
| The Xhosa word “nantoni na”, is commonly used without its prefix, “na”, which translates to mean, “what”. | |||
| Yoruba | ohunkohun | ||
| "Ohunkohun" is a Yoruba word that also means "all sorts of things", "miscellaneous", or "sundries". | |||
| Zulu | noma yini | ||
| The word "noma yini" in Zulu is an example of a compound noun, derived from the words "noma" (something) and "yini" (what), and it can also be used to mean "whatever it may be" or "what have you". | |||
| Bambara | foyi | ||
| Ewe | nu sia nu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ikintu icyo ari cyo cyose | ||
| Lingala | eloko nyonso | ||
| Luganda | ekintu kyonna | ||
| Sepedi | se sengwe le se sengwe | ||
| Twi (Akan) | biribiara | ||
Anything in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | اى شى | ||
| The Arabic word "اى شى" is also sometimes used in the sense of "whatsoever," "whatver", | |||
| Hebrew | כל דבר | ||
| The word "כל דבר" also means "every word" in Hebrew, and shares a root with the words "sentence" and "text". | |||
| Pashto | هرڅه | ||
| The Pashto word "هرڅه" literally means "everything that happens". | |||
| Arabic | اى شى | ||
| The Arabic word "اى شى" is also sometimes used in the sense of "whatsoever," "whatver", | |||
Anything in Western European Languages
| Albanian | çdo gjë | ||
| Çdo gjë, meaning 'anything', is also used as an exclamation to express surprise or anger. | |||
| Basque | edozer | ||
| The word "edozer" in Basque can also mean "something, a thing, an item." | |||
| Catalan | qualsevol cosa | ||
| In modern usage, "qualsevol cosa" is used for "anything", but derives from a combination of two Catalan words, "cualsevol", meaning "any" and "cosa", meaning "thing". | |||
| Croatian | bilo što | ||
| The word "bilo što" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "byti", meaning "to be", and the suffix "-što", which means "something". | |||
| Danish | hvad som helst | ||
| The Danish word "hvad som helst" literally translates to "what so ever". | |||
| Dutch | iets | ||
| The word “iets” in Dutch originated from the Old Saxon "eht" but can also mean "somewhat" or "something" rather than its literal translation of "anything." | |||
| English | anything | ||
| "Anything" can also mean a thing of little or no account, as in, "Is there anything in the refrigerator?" | |||
| French | n'importe quoi | ||
| This common interjection can also mean 'what' (as in 'what are you doing') or 'what is' (as in 'what is your name') | |||
| Frisian | wat dan ek | ||
| In Dutch and German as well, | |||
| Galician | calquera cousa | ||
| In Galician, "calquera cousa" literally means "some kind of thing" and is a calque of the Spanish expression "cualquier cosa". | |||
| German | etwas | ||
| The German word "etwas" is related to the Gothic word "aithei", meaning "something" or "a thing", and the Old English word "æht", meaning "possession". | |||
| Icelandic | hvað sem er | ||
| "Hvað sem er" (anything) is a combination of the words "hvað" (what) and "sem" (is), thus literally meaning "whatever is". | |||
| Irish | rud ar bith | ||
| The word "rud ar bith" can trace its etymological roots to the phrase "an rud ar bith," which literally translates to "the thing on the earth." | |||
| Italian | nulla | ||
| "Nulla" derives from the Latin word "nullius," which means "belonging to no one." | |||
| Luxembourgish | alles | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "alles" derives from the Latin "aliquid", meaning "something", and is also used in the sense of "everything". | |||
| Maltese | xejn | ||
| The word "xejn" in Maltese has been suggested to be derived from the Arabic word "shay'n" meaning "thing". | |||
| Norwegian | hva som helst | ||
| The Norwegian phrase "hva som helst" is cognate with the English word "whatsoever". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | qualquer coisa | ||
| In Portuguese, "qualquer coisa" also means "more or less" (e.g. "um pão qualquer" = "more or less a bread"). | |||
| Scots Gaelic | rud sam bith | ||
| The Old Norse "ruth" meant "any" and, later, "a single item." | |||
| Spanish | cualquier cosa | ||
| "Cualquier cosa" literally means "any thing" in Spanish, and can also mean "whatever" in the sense of "something unspecified". | |||
| Swedish | något | ||
| "Något" (anything) is derived from the Old Norse phrase "nokkot", meaning "something" or "a little bit". In Swedish, it can also refer to "somehow" or "kind of" in the sense of "it's something" or "he's kind of nice". | |||
| Welsh | unrhyw beth | ||
| The Welsh word 'unrhyw beth' derives from earlier 'on rhywbeth', and 'rhyw' has a long list of other meanings including 'some' and 'a certain'. | |||
Anything in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | што-небудзь | ||
| The Belarusian word “што-небудзь” (anything) is composed of two words “што” (what) and “небудзь” which literally means “will not happen”. | |||
| Bosnian | bilo šta | ||
| "Bilo šta" is a compound word formed from the neuter form of the past participle of the verb "biti" (to be) and the indefinite pronoun "šta" (what). | |||
| Bulgarian | нищо | ||
| In Bulgarian, "нищо" can also refer to "something" in some contexts, which can be confusing for learners. | |||
| Czech | cokoliv | ||
| Cokoliv is formed from the combination of words "co" (what) and "koliv" (number of times) | |||
| Estonian | midagi | ||
| The word "midagi" is related to the pronoun "mina" meaning "I" and the possessive suffix "-gi" meaning "my". | |||
| Finnish | mitä tahansa | ||
| "Mitä tahansa" translates to "whatever" and is a colloquial expression originated from a literal phrase meaning "what you will". | |||
| Hungarian | bármi | ||
| The word "bármi" is derived from the Old Hungarian "bár" (which means "any") and the suffix "-mi" (which means "thing"). | |||
| Latvian | jebko | ||
| The Latvian word "jebko" also means "a thing" in an abstract sense and is closely related to "jebkas" which means "whatever". | |||
| Lithuanian | nieko | ||
| Lithuanian "nieko" is a contraction of Old Lithuanian "ne-iko", where "ne" negates "iko", "thing" or "something". | |||
| Macedonian | било што | ||
| "Било што" can also mean "anybody" or "whatever". | |||
| Polish | byle co | ||
| The word "byle co" can also mean "no matter what", "whatever it takes", or "at any cost." | |||
| Romanian | orice | ||
| The Romanian word 'orice' shares its origins with the Latin word for 'herb' ('herba') via the Proto-Slavic term for 'plant' ('orьzie') | |||
| Russian | что-нибудь | ||
| The word "что-нибудь" is formed from the root "-что" (something) and the suffix "-нибудь" (indefinite) | |||
| Serbian | било шта | ||
| The Serbian word "било шта" ("anything") is derived from the Old Slavic pronominal phrase "быти чьто" ("to be something"). | |||
| Slovak | čokoľvek | ||
| "Čokoľvek" likely derives from "co" (what) + "koľko" (how much) | |||
| Slovenian | karkoli | ||
| The word 'karkoli' derives from the Slavic word 'kark', meaning 'to pluck', and originally referred to 'anything pluggable'. | |||
| Ukrainian | нічого | ||
| The Ukrainian "нічого" (anything, nothing) shares the same origin with the Russian "ничего", and is a contraction of two words: "не" + "що", which mean "not" + "something". | |||
Anything in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কিছু | ||
| The term 'কিছু' in Bengali is believed to originate from the Sanskrit word 'किञ्चित्' (kinchit) meaning 'a small portion' or 'something'. | |||
| Gujarati | કંઈપણ | ||
| "કંઈપણ" literally means "something" but in usage often means "anything". | |||
| Hindi | कुछ भी | ||
| The Hindi word "कुछ भी" can also mean "absurd" or "nonsense." | |||
| Kannada | ಏನು | ||
| "ಏನು" in Kannada, besides meaning "anything", also means "why" and "how". | |||
| Malayalam | എന്തും | ||
| The word "എന്തും" in Malayalam literally means "what". However, in most contexts it is used to mean "anything". | |||
| Marathi | काहीही | ||
| In Sanskrit, the word "किमपि" (kiṃpi) means "something" or "to some extent," and is the root of the Marathi word "काहीही" (kahīhī). | |||
| Nepali | केहि | ||
| The word 'केहि' ('kahi') in Nepali not only means 'anything', but also 'a little bit', depending on the context. | |||
| Punjabi | ਕੁਝ ਵੀ | ||
| The term "ਕੁਝ ਵੀ" can also mean "nothing" or "whatever." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කිසිවක් | ||
| The word "කිසිවක්" can also refer to "something" or "anything at all" in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | எதுவும் | ||
| The word "எதுவும்" can also mean "everything" or "all things" in Tamil. | |||
| Telugu | ఏదైనా | ||
| The word "ఏదైనా" can also mean "whatever" or "whichever" in Telugu. | |||
| Urdu | کچھ بھی | ||
| In Persian, "کچھ بھی" also means "not at all" or "nothing at all". | |||
Anything in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 任何东西 | ||
| The term "任何东西" means "any and all things," and is used with more emphasis than the word "一切". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 任何東西 | ||
| 任何東西 "anything" literally means "any object or thing." | |||
| Japanese | 何でも | ||
| "何でも" also means a store that sells a wide variety of everyday items. | |||
| Korean | 아무것도 | ||
| The word "아무것도" is sometimes used in Korean to mean "nothing", despite its literal translation being "anything". | |||
| Mongolian | юу ч байсан | ||
| Юу ч байсан is also an idiomatic phrase meaning "no matter what" or "whatever." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဘာမှမ | ||
| The word "ဘာမှမ" can also mean "without anything" or "nothing at all" in Myanmar (Burmese). | |||
Anything in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | apa pun | ||
| "Apa" is Indonesian for "what", and "apa pun" literally translates as "what anything". The phrase may have been originally used similarly to the English "what you may". | |||
| Javanese | apa wae | ||
| "Apa wae," meaning "anything," is the contraction of the words "apa-apa wae" in Javanese, which literally means "whatever." | |||
| Khmer | អ្វីទាំងអស់ | ||
| The Khmer word "អ្វីទាំងអស់" can also mean "all things" or "everything", and is often used in a collective sense. | |||
| Lao | ແມ່ນຫຍັງ | ||
| Malay | apa sahaja | ||
| "Apa sahaja" means "whatever" in Malay and is etymologically derived from "apa" (what) and "sahaja" (only). | |||
| Thai | อะไรก็ได้ | ||
| The word "อะไรก็ได้" can also be used to mean "whatever" or "anything you want". | |||
| Vietnamese | bất cứ thứ gì | ||
| "Bất cứ thứ gì" means every or any thing. It is not related to "bất cứ", meaning not any." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | anumang bagay | ||
Anything in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | bir şey | ||
| The word "bir şey" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "bir chiz" meaning "one thing" and can also mean "something" or "a thing". | |||
| Kazakh | кез келген нәрсе | ||
| The Kazakh word "кез келген нәрсе" is also used in the sense of "each" or "every". | |||
| Kyrgyz | бир нерсе | ||
| "Бир нерсе" also means "something" or "one thing" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | чизе | ||
| "Чизи" also means "something" or "a thing" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | islendik zat | ||
| Uzbek | har qanday narsa | ||
| The word "har qanday narsa" is derived from the Persian words "har" (every) and "qanday" (kind), and can also mean "all sorts of things" or "everything". | |||
| Uyghur | ھەر قانداق نەرسە | ||
Anything in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kekahi mea | ||
| "Kekahi mea' is also a phrase used to describe a person or thing that is not specific or well-defined. | |||
| Maori | tetahi mea | ||
| Tetatahi mea may also refer to a specific kind of bird, plant, or other living thing. | |||
| Samoan | e iai se mea | ||
| The Samoan phrase "e iai se mea" can also mean "there is something" or "it exists." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | anumang bagay | ||
| The word "anumang bagay" can also refer to a specific object or thing, depending on the context. | |||
Anything in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | kawnirisa | ||
| Guarani | oimeraẽva | ||
Anything in International Languages
| Esperanto | io ajn | ||
| "Io ajn" is a compound word in Esperanto, "io" meaning "this" and "ajn" meaning "one". Thus it literally means "this one", but it has come to mean "anything" in general. | |||
| Latin | aliquid | ||
| From Latin 'aliquis', 'some' + '-que', an enclitic meaning 'and'. Thus 'aliquid' can mean 'something' or 'anything', but etymologically it means 'some + thing'. | |||
Anything in Others Languages
| Greek | οτιδήποτε | ||
| "Οτιδήποτε" (otidipote) is composed of two words: "ὅ" (ho,"that" or "what") and the interrogative "τι" (ti, used to ask "what") with the indefinite suffix "-δήποτε" (-dipote, meaning "ever" or "at all"). | |||
| Hmong | dab tsi | ||
| Originally a verb meaning 'to gather' and a noun meaning 'a gathering', 'dab tsi' came to mean anything. | |||
| Kurdish | hemû | ||
| The word "hemû" in Kurdish derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰémo, meaning "earth" or "ground". | |||
| Turkish | herhangi bir şey | ||
| "Herhangi bir şey" is composed of "herhangi" (literally: "every which" or "any which") and "bir şey" (literally: "some thing"). | |||
| Xhosa | nantoni na | ||
| The Xhosa word “nantoni na”, is commonly used without its prefix, “na”, which translates to mean, “what”. | |||
| Yiddish | עפּעס | ||
| The word "עפּעס" can also mean "something" or "a little bit" in Yiddish. | |||
| Zulu | noma yini | ||
| The word "noma yini" in Zulu is an example of a compound noun, derived from the words "noma" (something) and "yini" (what), and it can also be used to mean "whatever it may be" or "what have you". | |||
| Assamese | যিকোনো | ||
| Aymara | kawnirisa | ||
| Bhojpuri | कवनो चीज | ||
| Dhivehi | ކޮންމެ އެއްޗެއްވެސް | ||
| Dogri | किश बी | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | anumang bagay | ||
| Guarani | oimeraẽva | ||
| Ilocano | aniaman a banag | ||
| Krio | ɛnitin | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هەر شتێک | ||
| Maithili | किछुओ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯃ ꯍꯦꯛꯇ | ||
| Mizo | engpawh | ||
| Oromo | wanta kamuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କିଛି | ||
| Quechua | imapas | ||
| Sanskrit | किमपि | ||
| Tatar | теләсә нәрсә | ||
| Tigrinya | ምንም ነገር | ||
| Tsonga | xin'wana na xin'wana | ||