Become in Different Languages
Discover 'Become' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'become' is a simple verb, but it carries a significant weight in expressing transformation and change. It reflects the evolution of one's character, status, or circumstances, and is a vital component of storytelling and communication. Throughout history, 'become' has been used in literature, philosophy, and science to convey the process of changing from one state to another.
Moreover, the cultural importance of 'become' transcends linguistic boundaries. In various languages, the concept of 'become' is expressed with unique words that encapsulate the essence of transformation in their respective cultures. For instance, in Spanish, 'become' is 'convertirse,' while in French, it's 'devenir.' These translations not only differ in sound and spelling but also reflect the unique cultural perspectives of the languages themselves.
Understanding the translations of 'become' in different languages can enrich one's linguistic and cultural knowledge. It can provide insights into how other cultures view and express change, and foster a deeper appreciation for the diversity and richness of human language and expression.
In the following list, you'll find the translations of 'become' in various languages, from common ones like Spanish and French to more exotic ones like Swahili and Hawaiian. Explore and enjoy the journey of linguistic and cultural discovery!
Become
Become in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | word | ||
| The Afrikaans word "word" can also refer to the English word "world". | |||
| Amharic | ሁን | ||
| The verb ሁን ('become'), a homonym that is used differently depending on its function in the sentence; it can also mean 'is,' 'are' for inanimate/indefinite/abstract notions or the impersonal 'one'. | |||
| Hausa | zama | ||
| The Hausa word ''zama'' also means ''to be in a state of,'' ''to become,'' and ''to appear as.'' | |||
| Igbo | ibu | ||
| "Ibu" in Igbo can also mean "to exist" or "to be born." | |||
| Malagasy | lasa | ||
| The verb "lasa" can also mean "to depart" or "to leave". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | khalani | ||
| The word "khalani" is derived from the Proto-Bantu root *kala-, meaning "to be" or "to become". | |||
| Shona | iva | ||
| The word "iva" can also mean "to happen" or "to occur". | |||
| Somali | noqosho | ||
| Although the primary meaning of "noqosho" in Somali is "become," it may also refer to "being" or "coming into existence." | |||
| Sesotho | fetoha | ||
| "Fetoha" can also mean "transform" or "change". | |||
| Swahili | kuwa | ||
| In some contexts, "kuwa" can also mean "arrive at" or "attain". | |||
| Xhosa | yiba | ||
| The word "yiba" in Xhosa can also mean "belong to" or "be a member of". | |||
| Yoruba | di | ||
| The word "di" in Yoruba can also mean "to happen" or "to occur." | |||
| Zulu | iba | ||
| Iba, meaning 'become,' can also imply 'change into something else.' | |||
| Bambara | kɛ | ||
| Ewe | zu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | guhinduka | ||
| Lingala | kokoma | ||
| Luganda | okufuuka | ||
| Sepedi | e ba | ||
| Twi (Akan) | bɛyɛ | ||
Become in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | يصبح | ||
| The Arabic word "يصبح" (become) is also used to mean "to greet in the morning". | |||
| Hebrew | הפכו | ||
| The Hebrew word "הפכו" (hifku) can also mean "to turn over" or "to overturn". | |||
| Pashto | جوړ شو | ||
| In Pashto, the word "جوړ شو" also means "to be made" or "to be created". | |||
| Arabic | يصبح | ||
| The Arabic word "يصبح" (become) is also used to mean "to greet in the morning". | |||
Become in Western European Languages
| Albanian | bëhem | ||
| The word "bëhem" has Indo-European roots, and is also found with a similar form and meaning in other Indo-European languages, including Greek, Latin, Russian, and German. | |||
| Basque | bihurtu | ||
| "Bi-hurtu" means "become" in Basque, from "bi" ("two")+"hurtu" ("return") | |||
| Catalan | tornar-se | ||
| The Catalan verb "tornar-se" can also mean "to return" or "to turn into". | |||
| Croatian | postati | ||
| The verb 'postati' comes from the Proto-Slavic word 'postati', meaning 'to come to stand', and is related to the words 'postava' ('posture') and 'postojati' ('to exist'). | |||
| Danish | blive | ||
| In Danish, "blive" also means to abide by or adhere to a rule, agreement, or promise. | |||
| Dutch | worden | ||
| The Dutch word "worden" can also mean "to be named" or "to be born". | |||
| English | become | ||
| "Become" comes from Old English word "becuman," meaning "to come into existence, to happen, to occur." | |||
| French | devenir | ||
| The word "devenir" can also mean "coming to be" or "to happen". | |||
| Frisian | wurde | ||
| The Frisian word "wurde" can also mean "to grow" or "to be made". | |||
| Galician | converterse | ||
| Galician "converterse" evolved from "convertirse", "convert", a borrowing from French or Portuguese, which, in turn, ultimately derives from Latin "convertō", "turn around, change". | |||
| German | werden | ||
| "Werden" is also an Old High German word for "to occur" or "to happen". | |||
| Icelandic | verða | ||
| In Old Norse the cognate of verða, verða (meaning "protect, ward against") survives in English as ward and ward off | |||
| Irish | éirí | ||
| The word "éirí" in Irish is derived from "eirim" in Old Irish which originally meant "arise" or "stand up" and can be used in the contexts of becoming, starting or setting off on something. | |||
| Italian | diventare | ||
| The Italian word "diventare" originally meant "to become divine". | |||
| Luxembourgish | ginn | ||
| The word "ginn" can also refer to the process of coming to be or existing. | |||
| Maltese | issir | ||
| The Maltese word "issir" likely derives from the Arabic "asara" (to set free, send out). | |||
| Norwegian | bli | ||
| "Bli" can also mean "to exist" or "to be". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | tornar-se | ||
| "Tornar-se" is related to the word "turn" and can be used to refer to "transforming" or "rotating" something in Portuguese. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | fàs | ||
| The word "fàs" also means "growing" or "growth" in Scots Gaelic. | |||
| Spanish | volverse | ||
| In colloquial Spanish, 'volverse' can also mean 'to get' or 'to make oneself'. | |||
| Swedish | bli | ||
| The Swedish word "bli" can also mean to transform or to turn into something. | |||
| Welsh | dod yn | ||
| Dod yn can also mean to happen, occur, or come into existence. | |||
Become in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | стаць | ||
| The word "стаць" can also mean "to stand", "to be", or "to happen". | |||
| Bosnian | postati | ||
| The word "postati" also has the meaning of "arise" in Bosnian. | |||
| Bulgarian | да стане | ||
| The word "да стане" in Bulgarian can also mean "to happen" or "to take place". | |||
| Czech | stát se | ||
| The Czech word "stát se" also means "to happen, to take place." | |||
| Estonian | muutunud | ||
| The Estonian word "muutunud" can also mean "changed" or "altered". | |||
| Finnish | tulla | ||
| The word "tulla" also means "to come" in Finnish. | |||
| Hungarian | válik | ||
| Hungarian "válik" originally meant "to separate" or "to divide". | |||
| Latvian | kļūt | ||
| Kļūt can also refer to growing or transforming into something else in Latvian. | |||
| Lithuanian | tapti | ||
| "Tapti" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*tep-", meaning "to warm". | |||
| Macedonian | стануваат | ||
| Стануваат comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *steh₂- meaning "stand, remain, be established," and also means "come true". | |||
| Polish | zostać | ||
| "Zostać" can also mean "to remain" or "to be left over" in Polish. | |||
| Romanian | deveni | ||
| The word "deveni" in Romanian can also mean "to evolve" or "to change for the better". | |||
| Russian | стали | ||
| The word "стали" (become) is derived from the Old Russian word "сталь" (steel), which in turn comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*stalь" (to become). | |||
| Serbian | постати | ||
| The Serbian verb "постати" can also mean "to appear" or "to happen". | |||
| Slovak | stať sa | ||
| The Slovak word "stať sa" is derived from the Slavic root "*stan-/*staň-", which also means "to stand". | |||
| Slovenian | postati | ||
| The word 'postati' can also mean 'to become' in a figurative sense, such as 'to become a better person' or 'to become famous'. | |||
| Ukrainian | стати | ||
| The verb “стати” can mean 'to be' as well as 'to become'.”} | |||
Become in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | হত্তয়া | ||
| "হত্তয়া" is a verb that can also mean "to exist" or "to be present" in certain contexts | |||
| Gujarati | banavu | ||
| The word 'banavu' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'bhu', which means 'to be', and is related to the English word 'become'. | |||
| Hindi | बनना | ||
| The word "बनना" in Hindi also means "to be or become ready" as in "खाना बनना" (food is being cooked). | |||
| Kannada | ಆಗಲು | ||
| "ಆಗಲು" can refer to the verb "to become," the verb "to happen" as well as a noun "event". | |||
| Malayalam | ആകുക | ||
| In Malayalam, “ആകുക” (pronounced “aakuk”) is used to indicate change, transformation, or the result of an action, often translating to | |||
| Marathi | बनणे | ||
| "बनणे" (become) in Marathi is also used to indicate the process of cooking or preparing something. | |||
| Nepali | बन्नु | ||
| The word "बन्नु" can also mean "to be made" or "to be created." | |||
| Punjabi | ਬਣ | ||
| The word "ਬਣ" can also mean "to form," "to create," or "to come into existence." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | බවට පත් වන්න | ||
| The Sinhala word බවට පත් වන්න (bavaṭa pat vanna) has a literal meaning of 'come into being' or 'become a reality' and can also mean 'to be achieved' or 'to materialize'. | |||
| Tamil | ஆக | ||
| "ஆக" can also mean "to suffice", "to be fit"" | |||
| Telugu | అవ్వండి | ||
| The word "అవ్వండి" can also mean "to exist" or "to be present" in Telugu. | |||
| Urdu | بن | ||
| {"text": "Urdu "بن" is cognate to its Persian homonym, Arabic "صير" and Hebrew "עשה" ("make, do") in the shared Semitic root *pʿl."} | |||
Become in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 成为 | ||
| In addition to "become", "成为" also means "to be regarded as" or "to grow into". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 成為 | ||
| 成為 means "become" in Chinese, but also "to become" or "to be". | |||
| Japanese | になる | ||
| The verb なる comes from the Old Japanese word naru, which means 'to grow' or 'to be born'. | |||
| Korean | 지다 | ||
| The word "지다" also means "to lose" or "to be inferior" in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | болох | ||
| The verb болох can also mean "to get," "to have," or "to be found." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဖြစ်လာသည် | ||
Become in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | menjadi | ||
| The word "menjadi" in Indonesian also has the meanings "to happen" and "to be". | |||
| Javanese | dadi | ||
| The Javanese word "dadi" also signifies "to turn into something". | |||
| Khmer | ក្លាយជា | ||
| The word "ក្លាយជា" can also mean "to be" or "to become" in a more general sense, as in "He is a teacher" or "It became a beautiful day." | |||
| Lao | ກາຍເປັນ | ||
| This verb is interchangeable with the verb “ເກີດ”; the latter emphasizes a state or status rather than a transformation. | |||
| Malay | menjadi | ||
| The word "menjadi" can also mean "to occur" or "to take place". | |||
| Thai | กลายเป็น | ||
| The word ''กลายเป็น'' can also mean ''to transform'' or ''to change'' in Thai. | |||
| Vietnamese | trở nên | ||
| "Trở nên" can also mean "to happen to exist" or "to turn into something". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | maging | ||
Become in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | olmaq | ||
| The word "olmaq" in Azerbaijani also means "to exist" or "to be present". | |||
| Kazakh | болу | ||
| The Kazakh word 'болу' ('become') also has the meaning of 'to be' or 'to exist'. | |||
| Kyrgyz | болуу | ||
| The word "болуу" also means "existence" or "being" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | шудан | ||
| "шудан" can also mean to be ready or to turn into something. | |||
| Turkmen | bolmak | ||
| Uzbek | bo'lish | ||
| The word "bo'lish" also means "to be destroyed" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | بول | ||
Become in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | lilo | ||
| The Hawaiian word "lilo" also means "to adhere to something". | |||
| Maori | riro | ||
| The word "riro" in Māori also has the alternate meaning of "to turn into" or "to transform". | |||
| Samoan | avea | ||
| The word "avea" in Samoan can also mean "to turn" or "to change into something." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | maging | ||
| "Mag-ing" in Tagalog can also mean "to do" or "to behave". | |||
Become in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | tukuña | ||
| Guarani | jeikojey | ||
Become in International Languages
| Esperanto | iĝi | ||
| The Esperanto word "iĝi" has possible roots in the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eǵʰ- (to be, to become). | |||
| Latin | facti sunt | ||
| In Latin, "facti sunt" (literally, "they became") can also refer to "they were made" or "they were created". | |||
Become in Others Languages
| Greek | γίνομαι | ||
| The word "γίνομαι" (become) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰen- (to be born). | |||
| Hmong | ua | ||
| The word "ua" has multiple meanings in the Hmong language, including "to become", "to grow", "to develop", and "to change." | |||
| Kurdish | bûyin | ||
| The word "bûyin" can also mean "to grow" or "to arise". | |||
| Turkish | olmak | ||
| The word "olmak" has an alternate meaning of "to exist" and derives from the Proto-Turkic verb "bol- " | |||
| Xhosa | yiba | ||
| The word "yiba" in Xhosa can also mean "belong to" or "be a member of". | |||
| Yiddish | ווערן | ||
| "ווערן" in Yiddish has the alternate meaning of "grow up" and "be transformed into something else". | |||
| Zulu | iba | ||
| Iba, meaning 'become,' can also imply 'change into something else.' | |||
| Assamese | হওক | ||
| Aymara | tukuña | ||
| Bhojpuri | होखल | ||
| Dhivehi | ވުން | ||
| Dogri | होई जाना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | maging | ||
| Guarani | jeikojey | ||
| Ilocano | agbalin | ||
| Krio | fɔ bi | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | بوون | ||
| Maithili | भ' गेनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯣꯏꯔꯛꯄ | ||
| Mizo | ni | ||
| Oromo | ta'uu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ହୁଅ | ||
| Quechua | tukuy | ||
| Sanskrit | जातः | ||
| Tatar | бул | ||
| Tigrinya | ምዃን | ||
| Tsonga | kuva | ||