Careful in Different Languages
Discover 'Careful' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'careful' holds great significance in our daily lives, reminding us to take precautions and approach situations with thoughtfulness. Its cultural importance is evident across the globe, as every language has its own translation that captures this concept.
Did you know that 'careful' comes from the Old English word 'caerful', which means anxious or full of care? This historical context highlights the deep roots of the word in our language and culture.
Understanding the translation of 'careful' in different languages can help us better connect with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. For example, in Spanish, 'careful' is 'cuidadoso', while in French, it's 'prudent'. In Mandarin Chinese, the word for 'careful' is '小心' (xiǎo xīn), and in Japanese, it's ' careful' is ' careful' (OSORERU).
By learning these translations, we not only expand our vocabulary but also gain a deeper appreciation for the richness and diversity of human language and culture. Keep reading to discover more translations of 'careful' in various languages!
Careful
Careful in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | versigtig | ||
| The word "versigtig" in Afrikaans is derived from the Dutch word "voorzichtig", which means "wary" or "cautious". | |||
| Amharic | በተጠንቀቅ | ||
| The Amharic word "በተጠንቀቅ" is derived from the root "ጠንቅ" meaning "to be careful" or "to take care" and is often used to emphasize the importance of caution or attention to detail. | |||
| Hausa | yi hankali | ||
| The word 'yi hankali' is a Hausa phrase composed of the verb 'yi' and the noun 'hankali', meaning to apply discretion and reason in one's actions. | |||
| Igbo | kpachara anya | ||
| The Igbo term "kpachara anya" not only means "careful" but can also refer to the act of being vigilant or watchful. | |||
| Malagasy | amim-pitandremana | ||
| The Malagasy word "amim-pitandremana" is a compound word derived from the nouns "amim" (care) and "pitandremana" (thought) and the particle "mi-" which indicates the possession of a particular quality or attribute, hence the meaning "thoughtful" in the context of being careful. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | samalani | ||
| The word "samalani" also means "beware" or "be cautious". | |||
| Shona | chenjera | ||
| The word "chenjera" in Shona also means "to wake up" or "to be alert". | |||
| Somali | taxaddar | ||
| Taxaddar stems from the Arabic noun taxaddur, meaning cautiousness or meticulousness. | |||
| Sesotho | hlokolosi | ||
| "Hlokolosi" originates from the Sesotho word "lokotsa, | |||
| Swahili | makini | ||
| Makini is derived from the Arabic word "makin" meaning "a place" or "a dwelling". | |||
| Xhosa | ngononophelo | ||
| "Ngqononophelo" is also the name of a Nguni shield and is derived from the word "ngqono" meaning "to look out for". | |||
| Yoruba | ṣọra | ||
| "Ṣọra" is also used as a verb, meaning "to beware of" or "to avoid". | |||
| Zulu | qaphela | ||
| The word "qaphela" also means "guard; protect; shield; defend" in Zulu. | |||
| Bambara | jàntońyɛ̀rɛla | ||
| Ewe | kpɔe nyuie | ||
| Kinyarwanda | witonde | ||
| Lingala | likebi | ||
| Luganda | okwegendereza | ||
| Sepedi | hlokomela | ||
| Twi (Akan) | hwɛ yie | ||
Careful in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | حذر | ||
| The word “حذر” can also mean "to be on your guard" or "to take precautions." | |||
| Hebrew | זָהִיר | ||
| The word "זהיר" may also refer to a type of ritual knife used in Jewish circumcision ceremonies. | |||
| Pashto | محتاط | ||
| The word 'محتاط' can also mean 'precautious' or 'watchful' in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | حذر | ||
| The word “حذر” can also mean "to be on your guard" or "to take precautions." | |||
Careful in Western European Languages
| Albanian | i kujdesshëm | ||
| "I kujdesshëm" (careful) comes from the Latin "cautus," meaning "wary" or "prudent." | |||
| Basque | kontuz | ||
| It comes from French "contus" or Spanish "contuso" and means "bruised". | |||
| Catalan | compte | ||
| "Compte", meaning "careful," also derives from "comptes" in Old Catalan, and can therefore refer to the sense of carrying something or a financial account. | |||
| Croatian | oprezno | ||
| "Oprez" means "caution" and "opaziti" means "to notice" in Croatian. | |||
| Danish | forsigtig | ||
| The word "forsigtig" comes from the Old Norse word "forsigr", meaning "foresight". It can also mean "cautious" or "prudent". | |||
| Dutch | voorzichtig | ||
| Despite its spelling, 'voorzichtig' is not related to 'voorsicht', which means 'caution', but instead comes from 'voorzichtigheid' (literally 'foresighteousness'). | |||
| English | careful | ||
| Careful, from an ultimately Indo-European word, shares the same root as the Latin word carus, meaning “dear” and “precious”. | |||
| French | prudent | ||
| The word "prudent" can also refer to "cautious" in French. | |||
| Frisian | foarsichtich | ||
| Galician | coidado | ||
| The Galician word "coidado" derives from the Latin "cautus," meaning wary or cautious. | |||
| German | vorsichtig | ||
| Vorsichtig means "watchful, cautious" and derives from Vorsicht "caution, watchfulness" which is composed of vor "in front" and sight "view". Vorsicht also appears in Vorschuß "advance" and vorsorglich "precautionary". | |||
| Icelandic | varkár | ||
| The word "varkár" in Icelandic is derived from the Old Norse root "vara" meaning "to be on guard" or "to take care." | |||
| Irish | cúramach | ||
| In Irish mythology, the Morrígan is often depicted as a war goddess, her name possibly derived from the word cúrach (hero) or curamach (champion). | |||
| Italian | attento | ||
| While "attento" in Italian means "careful" or "attentive", it is derived from the Latin "attendere" meaning "to stretch towards" like a hunter with a bow and arrow. | |||
| Luxembourgish | virsiichteg | ||
| Maltese | attent | ||
| It is a false friend of the English word "attentive" and is related to "attenuate". | |||
| Norwegian | forsiktig | ||
| "Forsiktig" (careful) is derived from the Old Norse word "forsichtigr," which meant "prudent," "cautious," or "watchful." | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | cuidado | ||
| "Cuidado" is a word in Portuguese that can be traced back to the Latin word "cogito", meaning "to think" or "to consider". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | faiceallach | ||
| The word "faiceallach" is also used to describe someone who is "watchful" or "attentive". | |||
| Spanish | cuidado | ||
| "Cuidado" can also mean "look out" or "beware" in some contexts. | |||
| Swedish | försiktig | ||
| Försiktig shares the same origin as German "vorsichtig," originally meaning "provident," from Old Norse "forseggja" meaning "to provide for"} | |||
| Welsh | gofalus | ||
| In Welsh, the word "gofal" derives from an Old Celtic root meaning "to attend to". | |||
Careful in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | асцярожна | ||
| Bosnian | oprezno | ||
| The word 'oprezno' (careful) also has a negative connotation of suspicion or mistrust. | |||
| Bulgarian | внимателен | ||
| "Внимателен" derives from the Old Church Slavonic word "внiмати", meaning "to pay attention, to listen." | |||
| Czech | opatrně | ||
| The word "opatrně" in Czech is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*opatrъ", meaning "to be on guard". In addition to its primary meaning of "careful", it can also mean "cautious", "prudent", or "wary". | |||
| Estonian | ettevaatlik | ||
| The word 'ettevaatlik' is derived from the Estonian word 'ette' meaning 'before' and 'vaatama' meaning 'to look'. | |||
| Finnish | varovainen | ||
| "Varovainen" derives from the word "varoa", which means "to beware" or "to guard against". | |||
| Hungarian | óvatos | ||
| "Óvatos" derives from "óv" (to protect), which also gave way to the term "őriz" (to guard) and hence has semantic links with the verb "vigyáz" (to take care). | |||
| Latvian | uzmanīgi | ||
| “Uzmanīgi” can be used to mean “precisely” or “exactly” in Latvian. | |||
| Lithuanian | atsargus | ||
| 'Atsargus' shares the same root as the word 'sargas' meaning 'guard', and the word 'atsarga' meaning 'reserve'. | |||
| Macedonian | внимателен | ||
| The Macedonian word "внимателен" is related to the Latin verb "attendo" meaning to attend to something or be attentive. | |||
| Polish | ostrożny | ||
| The Polish word "ostrożny" is related to the noun "ostroga", which means "spur", and the verb "strzeć", which means "to shoot" or "to guard", suggesting a sense of caution and readiness in its usage. | |||
| Romanian | atent | ||
| The word "atent" is also used to describe an object or action that is focused or directed towards something specific. | |||
| Russian | осторожный | ||
| "Осторожный" is related to the word "сторожить", a verb meaning "guarding" from "осторожница ", a name for a guard. | |||
| Serbian | опрезно | ||
| The word 'опрезно' is also used in Russian and means 'prudent, cautious'. | |||
| Slovak | opatrne | ||
| The word "opatrne" can also mean "cautious" or "watchful". | |||
| Slovenian | previdno | ||
| It is related to the Proto-Slavic word *obŭzьrěti meaning 'to view over' or 'to heed'. | |||
| Ukrainian | обережно | ||
| The word "обережно" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*oboriti sę", meaning "to turn around" or "to be careful". | |||
Careful in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সাবধান | ||
| The Bengali word "সাবধান" is derived from the Sanskrit word "sapradhana", meaning "attention" or "heed". | |||
| Gujarati | સાવચેત | ||
| The word "સાવચેત" comes from the Sanskrit word "सावधान" which means "vigilant" or "attentive". It can also mean "cautious" or "prudent". | |||
| Hindi | सावधान | ||
| "सावधान" could mean 'careful' but it can also refer to the state of being on the lookout or alert. | |||
| Kannada | ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಯಿಂದ | ||
| Malayalam | ശ്രദ്ധാപൂർവ്വം | ||
| Marathi | काळजीपूर्वक | ||
| Nepali | सावधान | ||
| The word "सावधान" in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "savadhana", meaning "attentive". | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਾਵਧਾਨ | ||
| ਸਾਵਧਾਨ also means 'attentive,' 'heedful,' 'thoughtful,' 'watchful,' 'vigilant,' 'cautious,' 'prudent,' 'warily,' 'wary,' and 'with care'. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ප්රවේශම් වන්න | ||
| Tamil | கவனமாக | ||
| Telugu | జాగ్రత్తగా | ||
| Urdu | ہوشیار | ||
| The word "ہوشیار" derives from Sanskrit "savyaśīrṣa" (left-headed) and also means "prudent" or "aware". | |||
Careful in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 小心 | ||
| 小（xiǎo）as a prefix in mandarin usually indicates a diminutive version or a lower rank/junior version of something, while 心（xīn）refers to the heart/mind. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 小心 | ||
| 小心 (literally "small heart") can also mean timid, cautious or afraid. | |||
| Japanese | 注意してください | ||
| "注意してください" (careful) is a loanword from Portuguese "atenção" | |||
| Korean | 꼼꼼한 | ||
| 꼼꼼 was originally written as 꼼꼼이 to mean 'the state of looking over an object carefully' and is derived from 꼼꼼히 meaning 'in a detailed manner'. | |||
| Mongolian | болгоомжтой | ||
| The word "болгоомжтой" can also mean "attentive" or "cautious". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဂရုစိုက် | ||
Careful in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | cermat | ||
| The word "cermat" in Indonesian is derived from the Sanskrit word "cāmatkāra, | |||
| Javanese | ati-ati | ||
| The Javanese word “ati-ati” is also used for “fragile,” and derives from Sanskrit “ati-ati,” which can mean either “very” or “often.” | |||
| Khmer | ប្រយ័ត្ន | ||
| The word "ប្រយ័ត្ន" in Khmer can also mean "consideration", "attention", or "thoughtfulness". | |||
| Lao | ລະມັດລະວັງ | ||
| Malay | berhati-hati | ||
| "Berhati-hati" (careful) in Malay literally means "with a heart" and can also imply being attentive or mindful. | |||
| Thai | ระวัง | ||
| ระวัง shares its roots with the word "วังวน" (whirlpool), as both originally meant "to be surrounded by or entangled in something." | |||
| Vietnamese | cẩn thận | ||
| "Cẩn thận" derives from the Chinese word "謹慎" (jǐnshèn), meaning "cautious" or "prudent". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ingat | ||
Careful in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | diqqətli | ||
| "Diqqətli" is derived from the Arabic word "diqqah," meaning "attention, care" and also "narrowness" in Persian. | |||
| Kazakh | сақ болыңыз | ||
| The word "сақ болыңыз" in Kazakh can also be translated as "beware" or "watch out". | |||
| Kyrgyz | этият | ||
| The word "этият" is also used in Kyrgyz to mean "watch out". | |||
| Tajik | эҳтиёт | ||
| The word "эҳтиёт" can also mean "heedful" or "cautious". | |||
| Turkmen | seresap boluň | ||
| Uzbek | ehtiyot bo'ling | ||
| This idiom comes from “ehtiyot bo‘ling” (“take care”). | |||
| Uyghur | ئېھتىيات قىلىڭ | ||
Careful in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | akahele | ||
| Akahele also means 'in an adroit manner,' 'skilfully' and 'cautiously'. | |||
| Maori | tupato | ||
| The word "tupato" also means "to be cautious" or "to be wary" in Maori. | |||
| Samoan | faʻaitete | ||
| The word "faʻaitete" is derived from the verb "faʻateitei", meaning "to make cautious". It can also mean "prudent" or "discreet". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | maingat | ||
| "Maingat" is also used to describe something that is done with great attention to detail or with meticulous care. | |||
Careful in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | amuyasiri | ||
| Guarani | ñangareko | ||
Careful in International Languages
| Esperanto | zorga | ||
| The word "zorga" is thought to be derived from the German word "sorgen", meaning "to worry" or "to care". | |||
| Latin | careful | ||
| In Latin the word 'careful' originated from 'carus' meaning 'dear', so it originally meant to hold something dear and protect it from harm. | |||
Careful in Others Languages
| Greek | προσεκτικός | ||
| Προσεκτικός comes from "proskheo," which means "to look out" or "to pay attention." | |||
| Hmong | ceev faj | ||
| Another meaning of "ceev faj" in Hmong is to be stingy | |||
| Kurdish | balî | ||
| The word "balî" in Kurdish derives from the Persian word "bala" which means "higher, above, upper". | |||
| Turkish | dikkatli | ||
| Originally meant "narrow", "close" in Classical Ottoman Turkish | |||
| Xhosa | ngononophelo | ||
| "Ngqononophelo" is also the name of a Nguni shield and is derived from the word "ngqono" meaning "to look out for". | |||
| Yiddish | אָפּגעהיט | ||
| "אָפּגעהיט" can also be used to mean cautious or wary. | |||
| Zulu | qaphela | ||
| The word "qaphela" also means "guard; protect; shield; defend" in Zulu. | |||
| Assamese | সাৱধান | ||
| Aymara | amuyasiri | ||
| Bhojpuri | सावधान | ||
| Dhivehi | ބަލައިގެން | ||
| Dogri | खबरदार | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ingat | ||
| Guarani | ñangareko | ||
| Ilocano | naannad | ||
| Krio | tek tɛm | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | وریا | ||
| Maithili | सावधानीपूर्वक | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯆꯦꯛꯁꯤꯟꯕ | ||
| Mizo | fimkhur | ||
| Oromo | of eeggataa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସାବଧାନ | | ||
| Quechua | cuidadoso | ||
| Sanskrit | सावधानम् | ||
| Tatar | сак | ||
| Tigrinya | ምጥንቃቕ | ||
| Tsonga | vukheta | ||