Him in Different Languages
Discover 'Him' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'him' is a small but significant term in English, often used as a pronoun to refer to a male person or object. Its cultural importance is evident in literature, music, and everyday conversation, where it helps us tell stories, express emotions, and connect with one another. But did you know that the word 'him' has fascinating translations in different languages, offering a glimpse into how various cultures convey similar ideas?
For instance, in Spanish, 'him' translates to 'él,' while in French, it becomes 'lui.' In German, 'him' is 'ihm,' and in Japanese, it's '彼' (kare). These translations not only help us communicate in various languages but also provide insight into the unique linguistic and cultural nuances of different societies.
So, why should you learn the translations of 'him' in different languages? Understanding how other cultures express basic concepts can deepen your appreciation for language and cultural diversity. It can also enhance your cross-cultural communication skills, making you a more effective global citizen.
Join us as we explore the various translations of 'him' in different languages and cultures.
Him
Him in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | hom | ||
| In addition to meaning "him", the Afrikaans word "hom" also means "man" and "husband". | |||
| Amharic | እሱ | ||
| The word እሱ ('him') is derived from the Proto-Semitic root *hw-, meaning 'he'. | |||
| Hausa | shi | ||
| Hausa 'shi' is also used in reference to a child that has not been named or whose name is not known. | |||
| Igbo | ya | ||
| The word "ya" in Igbo is also used as a respectful way to address an older male. | |||
| Malagasy | azy | ||
| The word "azy" can also mean "her" or "them." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | iye | ||
| The word 'iye' is also used in Nyanja to mean 'a man' or 'husband'. | |||
| Shona | iye | ||
| "Iye" also refers to a man who is older than oneself. | |||
| Somali | isaga | ||
| The word "isaga" also means "they" (masculine) in Somali. | |||
| Sesotho | eena | ||
| Swahili | yeye | ||
| The word 'yeye' in Swahili can also mean 'father' or 'grandfather'. | |||
| Xhosa | yena | ||
| "Yena" can be used as a noun meaning "him" or as a third-person pronoun meaning "he". | |||
| Yoruba | oun | ||
| "Oun" in Yoruba is a pronominal word that can also be used to introduce a relative clause. | |||
| Zulu | yena | ||
| The word “yena,” meaning “him,” can also mean “that one” or be used in the context of “that thing.” | |||
| Bambara | a | ||
| Ewe | nɛ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | we | ||
| Lingala | ye | ||
| Luganda | ye | ||
| Sepedi | yena | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ɔno | ||
Him in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | له | ||
| The word "له" in Arabic can also mean "to him" or "for him". | |||
| Hebrew | אוֹתוֹ | ||
| The Hebrew word אוֹתוֹ, meaning "him," also has the alternate meaning of "it" when referring to an inanimate object. | |||
| Pashto | هغه | ||
| The Pashto word "هغه" ("him") can also refer to "she" in certain contexts, due to the absence of a dedicated third-person feminine pronoun in the language. | |||
| Arabic | له | ||
| The word "له" in Arabic can also mean "to him" or "for him". | |||
Him in Western European Languages
| Albanian | atij | ||
| The Albanian word "atij" also has the alternate meaning of "self" and is related to the Proto-Albanian word "at". | |||
| Basque | hura | ||
| The Basque word "hura" can refer to "that one", "he", "it", or "she" and is the object form of the third person singular pronoun. | |||
| Catalan | ell | ||
| "Ell" is also an archaic form of the third person plural masculine pronoun "ells" | |||
| Croatian | mu | ||
| Mu stems from the Latin word "mihi", but can also be used in the sense of "to me" or "for me". | |||
| Danish | hej m | ||
| Hej M (pron. ham), from Middle Danish, means 'skin', but has since shifted its meaning to mean 'him'. | |||
| Dutch | hem | ||
| The word "hem" in Dutch also refers to the edge of a garment turned over and sewn down, derived from the Middle Dutch word "hemme," meaning "edge" or "border." | |||
| English | him | ||
| The word "him" derives from the Old English word "him" (masc. accusative singular), which itself derives from the Proto-Germanic word *hi- (masc. accusative singular), which is shared by several other Germanic languages, including Dutch, German, and Swedish. | |||
| French | lui | ||
| The French word "lui" can also be used to refer to the masculine form of a third-person object, and the masculine form of a reflexive verb. | |||
| Frisian | him | ||
| The word "him" in Frisian (him) is a shortened form of the word "hi" (him) and is also used as a polite form of address. | |||
| Galician | el | ||
| In Galician, "el" also refers to "the" masculine definite pronoun. | |||
| German | ihm | ||
| The term "ihm" may also refer to the masculine dative singular pronoun in various Germanic languages, as well as the dative singular form of the demonstrative pronoun "er" in Old High German. | |||
| Icelandic | hann | ||
| The word "hann" is a masculine form of the third person singular pronoun and also has a meaning of "rooster" in Icelandic. | |||
| Irish | dó | ||
| The Irish word "dó" also means "there" and is often used in the expression "Is dó" ("it is there"). | |||
| Italian | lui | ||
| "Lui" is also used in Italian to refer to a person who has recently died or passed away, similar to the English usage of "the late." | |||
| Luxembourgish | hien | ||
| The word "hien" (him) is derived from Proto-Germanic *imu, and is cognate with English "him." | |||
| Maltese | lilu | ||
| The word "lilu" also means "his" and is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable in this case. | |||
| Norwegian | ham | ||
| In addition to the pronoun, "ham" is also used to describe a piece of pork similar to bacon in Norwegian, derived from Old Norse "hammr", meaning "thigh or buttock". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | ele | ||
| It can also be used as a third person masculine singular pronoun, in the objective case. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | ris | ||
| The Scots Gaelic word ''ris'' ('him') originates from the Old Irish ''riss'' ('knowledge') as he was known through his deeds. | |||
| Spanish | él | ||
| Originally, the word "él" referred to a third person singular non-feminine, but today it is used almost exclusively for masculine contexts. | |||
| Swedish | honom | ||
| The word "honom" in Swedish can also mean "to him". | |||
| Welsh | fe | ||
| Fe can also mean "it" or "this" in some contexts. | |||
Him in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | яго | ||
| The word "яго" in Belarusian is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "его" (jego), meaning "his" or "its." | |||
| Bosnian | njega | ||
| The possessive pronoun 'njega' can also refer to 'his'. | |||
| Bulgarian | него | ||
| The word can also mean "it" in Bulgarian, as in the phrase "Обичам да готвя." (I like to cook it). | |||
| Czech | mu | ||
| The word "mu" also refers to a dative personal pronoun in the 1st person plural meaning "to the two of us" or "to a group", like the French word "nous". | |||
| Estonian | tema | ||
| The word "tema" in Estonian can also mean "a subject, topic, or theme". | |||
| Finnish | häntä | ||
| The word "häntä" also means "tail" in Finnish, coming from the Proto-Finnic word "häntä". | |||
| Hungarian | neki | ||
| Besides its most common meaning of 'him', 'neki' can also mean 'to himself' or 'to oneself'. | |||
| Latvian | viņu | ||
| The word "viņu" derives from the same Proto-Balto-Slavic root as the Lithuanian "jį" and the Old Church Slavonic "и" (i), and was originally used as an oblique case form of the third-person singular pronoun "viņš" ("he"). | |||
| Lithuanian | jį | ||
| The word "jį" in Lithuanian is a third person singular pronoun which can also be used as a reflexive pronoun, meaning "himself". | |||
| Macedonian | него | ||
| It is a short form of "неговото" (negovoro, "his"), which is declined as "него" in the accusative. | |||
| Polish | mu | ||
| The word "mu" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *moj, meaning "my", which is related to the Latin word "mihi" and the English word "me". | |||
| Romanian | -l | ||
| -l is a suffix used to form the masculine singular definite article in Romanian, equivalent to the English "-the". | |||
| Russian | ему | ||
| In Russian, the word "ему" can also mean "to him" and is used in the dative case. | |||
| Serbian | него | ||
| The Serbian word "него" originally meant "not this" (i.e. "не ового"), but has since become synonymous with "him" due to its phonetic similarity to "негов" ("his"). | |||
| Slovak | ho | ||
| The word "ho" in Slovak can also refer to a male sheep or goat. | |||
| Slovenian | njega | ||
| Njega is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *jь, which also meant "he", and is related to the Latin word "ego" and the Greek word "ego". | |||
| Ukrainian | його | ||
| The Ukrainian word йогo is derived from the old Slavonic й with the accusative ending -о. | |||
Him in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | তার | ||
| The word "তার" can also mean "his" or "its" in Bengali. | |||
| Gujarati | તેને | ||
| The Gujarati word "તેને" can also mean "to him" or "for him". | |||
| Hindi | उसे | ||
| The word "उसे" ("him") in Hindi is also used as an oblique form of the pronoun "वह" ("he"), meaning "his" or "hers". | |||
| Kannada | ಅವನನ್ನು | ||
| The word "ಅವನನ್ನು" has an alternate meaning, which is "his or her" or "of him or her". | |||
| Malayalam | അവനെ | ||
| "അവനെ" comes from the Dravidian root "av", meaning "he" or "that". | |||
| Marathi | त्याला | ||
| The word "त्याला" also means "onto it" or "onto him" and is derived from the Sanskrit word "तस्मै" (tasmai), meaning "to that one." | |||
| Nepali | उसलाई | ||
| The word 'उसलाई' can also be used as 'her' in Nepali, when referring to a female noun. | |||
| Punjabi | ਉਸ ਨੂੰ | ||
| The Punjabi pronoun "ਉਸ ਨੂੰ" can also have the meanings "to him" or "to it." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ඔහුව | ||
| The Sinhala word ඔහුව (ohu) originally meant "that being" or "that individual" but can also be used as a third person singular pronoun referring to a male. | |||
| Tamil | அவரை | ||
| "அவரை" (avara-i) is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word "*ava" meaning "he" or "she". | |||
| Telugu | అతన్ని | ||
| అతన్ని in Telugu can also refer to the masculine third-person pronoun, meaning "he" or "his". | |||
| Urdu | اسے | ||
| The word "اسے" can also mean "that". It is derived from the Arabic word "هو" (pronounced "/huw/"), which means "he" or "it". | |||
Him in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 他 | ||
| The character 他 can also mean 'other' or 'different' | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 他 | ||
| "他" (tā) can also mean "other" or "another". | |||
| Japanese | 彼 | ||
| The character "彼" (kare) can also mean "that person" or "the other person", referring to a person not directly involved in the conversation or action. | |||
| Korean | 그를 | ||
| "그를" (geureul) in modern Korean is used as the object marker for third person singular pronouns, but it originally meant "that person" or "that thing". | |||
| Mongolian | түүнийг | ||
| The Mongolian word | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | သူ့ကို | ||
Him in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | dia | ||
| In Indonesian, "dia" can also refer to the third person in a conversation or in a narrative. | |||
| Javanese | dheweke | ||
| "Dheweke" is a Javanese word for "him" that is derived from the Old Javanese word "dhêwêka" which means "the individual". It can also be used to refer to inanimate objects in a similar way to the English word "it" | |||
| Khmer | គាត់ | ||
| The word គាត់ in Khmer is a formal way of addressing someone in the third person, akin to the English word 'sir' or 'ma'am'. | |||
| Lao | ລາວ | ||
| "ລາວ" (him) is also used as a polite way to address adult men in general, as well as to refer to males of any age. | |||
| Malay | dia | ||
| "Dia" also means "she" in Malay, as well as "it" when referring to an animal or inanimate object. | |||
| Thai | เขา | ||
| "เขา" also means mountain in Thai. | |||
| Vietnamese | anh ta | ||
| Anh ta in Vietnamese can also refer to the older brother of a male speaker, depending on the context of conversation. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kanya | ||
Him in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | ona | ||
| The word "Ona" in Azerbaijani has a secondary meaning of "his". | |||
| Kazakh | оны | ||
| "Оны" can also mean "that" as a demonstrative pronoun. | |||
| Kyrgyz | аны | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "аны", which is usually translated to mean “him”, has alternative meanings like “that” and “it". | |||
| Tajik | вай | ||
| The Tajik word "вай" can also be used to express surprise or disappointment. | |||
| Turkmen | ol | ||
| Uzbek | uni | ||
| "Uni" can also mean "that" in Uzbek, which is an indication of Uzbek's historical ties to its Turko-Persian neighbors. | |||
| Uyghur | him | ||
Him in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻo ia | ||
| 'O ia' means 'him' in Hawaiian and is also used as an emphatic pronoun, meaning 'that one' or 'the one in question'. | |||
| Maori | ia | ||
| In Maori, "ia" has an alternate meaning as a possessive pronoun and can be used to signify ownership or belonging. | |||
| Samoan | ia | ||
| The word "ia" also means "his" or "hers" in Samoan. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | siya | ||
| The word "siya" (meaning "he/she") can also be used in Tagalog to mean "it" or "this" when referring to a specific person or thing. | |||
Him in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | juparu | ||
| Guarani | ha'e | ||
Him in International Languages
| Esperanto | li | ||
| The word "li" also means "to" or "for" in Esperanto and has its roots in an ancient Indo-European root. | |||
| Latin | eum | ||
| The Latin word "eum" can also refer to "it" or "a thing," not just a male person. | |||
Him in Others Languages
| Greek | αυτόν | ||
| The Ancient Greek word 'αυτόν' can also refer to a reflexive pronoun ('himself'), personal pronoun ('he'), and an intensive pronoun ('the same'). | |||
| Hmong | nws | ||
| The word "nws" originates from the Chinese word "他" (tā), and has undergone sound changes such as the loss of the glottal stop and the aspiration of the initial consonant over time. | |||
| Kurdish | wî | ||
| The Kurdish word for "him" (wî) may also mean "that" or "there" in certain contexts, such as "wî kes" (that person) or "wî cih" (there). | |||
| Turkish | onu | ||
| Onu in Turkish comes from the Proto-Turkic word *onu, which means "that". It is not related to the English word "one". | |||
| Xhosa | yena | ||
| "Yena" can be used as a noun meaning "him" or as a third-person pronoun meaning "he". | |||
| Yiddish | אים | ||
| The Yiddish noun "אים" can also mean "breath" or "spirit". | |||
| Zulu | yena | ||
| The word “yena,” meaning “him,” can also mean “that one” or be used in the context of “that thing.” | |||
| Assamese | তেওঁক | ||
| Aymara | juparu | ||
| Bhojpuri | उनके | ||
| Dhivehi | އޭނާ | ||
| Dogri | उसी | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kanya | ||
| Guarani | ha'e | ||
| Ilocano | kenkuana | ||
| Krio | in | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ئەو | ||
| Maithili | ओ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯍꯥꯛ | ||
| Mizo | ani | ||
| Oromo | isa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ତାଙ୍କୁ | ||
| Quechua | pay | ||
| Sanskrit | तस्य | ||
| Tatar | аны | ||
| Tigrinya | ንሱ | ||
| Tsonga | yena | ||