Instead in Different Languages
Discover 'Instead' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'instead' is a small but powerful part of the English language. It's a conjunction that signifies a replacement or substitution, and it's used in everyday speech and writing around the world. But have you ever wondered how 'instead' is translated in different languages? Understanding the nuances of this word in various cultures can give you a new perspective on how people communicate and express ideas.
For example, in Spanish, 'instead' is translated as 'en lugar de'. In French, it's 'à la place de'. And in German, it's 'stattdessen'. Each of these translations captures the essence of 'instead', but with subtle differences that reflect the unique characteristics of each language and culture.
Moreover, learning the translation of 'instead' in different languages can be a fun and rewarding experience for language enthusiasts and travelers alike. It's a small but meaningful way to connect with people from different backgrounds and expand your cultural horizons.
So, whether you're a student of language, a globetrotter, or just someone who's curious about the world, join us as we explore the many translations of 'instead' in different languages.
Instead
Instead in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | in plaas daarvan | ||
| This Afrikaans word derives from the Dutch phrase “in plaats daarvan.” | |||
| Amharic | በምትኩ | ||
| The root word of "በምትኩ" is "መቶኩ" which means "a bit" or "a little" | |||
| Hausa | maimakon haka | ||
| This word can also mean “rather” or “on the contrary,” as in “Maimakon haka, na yi shi differently,” for “Rather than that, I did it differently.” | |||
| Igbo | kama | ||
| "Kama" can also mean "to exchange" or "to trade" in the Igbo language. | |||
| Malagasy | fa tsy | ||
| The Malagasy word "fa tsy" derives from the Proto-Austronesian word "pa-ta-si", and can also mean "in order not to" or "for fear of". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | m'malo mwake | ||
| The word 'm'malo mwake' in Nyanja (Chichewa) can also mean 'at the same time' or 'meanwhile'. | |||
| Shona | pachinzvimbo | ||
| The word "pachinzvimbo" in Shona can also refer to a replacement or substitute. | |||
| Somali | halkii | ||
| In the Somali language, the word "halkii" can also refer to a place or a time in the past. | |||
| Sesotho | ho ena le hoo | ||
| The word "ho ena le hoo" can also mean "to take the place of" in Sesotho. | |||
| Swahili | badala yake | ||
| "Badala yake" can also mean "a replacement" or "in place of". | |||
| Xhosa | endaweni yoko | ||
| The term 'endaweni yoko' in Xhosa can be broken down into 'endaweni' meaning 'in place of' and 'yoko' meaning 'there,' together conveying the concept of substitution. | |||
| Yoruba | dipo | ||
| The word "dipo" in Yoruba can also mean "in place of" or "on behalf of" someone. | |||
| Zulu | esikhundleni salokho | ||
| The word 'esikhundleni' can also mean 'in the place of', and 'salokho' can mean 'in place of' or 'in lieu of'. | |||
| Bambara | no na | ||
| Ewe | ɖe eteƒe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ahubwo | ||
| Lingala | olie | ||
| Luganda | mu kifo kya | ||
| Sepedi | le ge go le bjalo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | sɛ anka | ||
Instead in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | في حين أن | ||
| The phrase 'في حين أن' also conveys the idea of ‘although’ or ‘while,’ emphasizing the presence of contrary circumstances. | |||
| Hebrew | במקום זאת | ||
| The word "במקום זאת" is a compound word composed of the noun "מקום" (place) and the preposition "ב" (in), and means "in place of this". | |||
| Pashto | پرځای | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of "instead," "پرځای" can also mean "replacement," "substitute," or "proxy." | |||
| Arabic | في حين أن | ||
| The phrase 'في حين أن' also conveys the idea of ‘although’ or ‘while,’ emphasizing the presence of contrary circumstances. | |||
Instead in Western European Languages
| Albanian | në vend të kësaj | ||
| The Albanian word "në vend të kësaj" literally means "in place of this" and is used to express the idea of substitution or replacement. | |||
| Basque | horren ordez | ||
| Its first component "ordez" comes from "ordu" ("host") and the second, "horren," is the genitive singular suffix. | |||
| Catalan | en canvi | ||
| The catalan phrase "en canvi" is used in the sense "but" when "però" is too abrupt. | |||
| Croatian | umjesto toga | ||
| "Umjesto toga" is a compound word consisting of "mjesto" (place) and "to" (it), indicating a change in place or situation. | |||
| Danish | i stedet | ||
| In Danish, "i stedet" literally means "in the spot" which is similar to the English "instead". | |||
| Dutch | in plaats daarvan | ||
| The word "in plaats daarvan" is a contraction of "in de plaats daarvan," which literally means "in the place thereof." | |||
| English | instead | ||
| The word "instead" in English ultimately derives from Old English, meaning "to stay"} | |||
| French | au lieu | ||
| The French phrase "au lieu de" originally meant "in place of" and is derived from the Latin phrase "in loco". | |||
| Frisian | ynstee | ||
| The Frisian word "ynstee" is derived from Old Frisian "anstede", which originally meant "place" or "stead". | |||
| Galician | no seu lugar | ||
| In Galician, "no seu lugar" can also mean "in its own place" or "properly placed". | |||
| German | stattdessen | ||
| “Stattdessen” consists of the stem “statt” (place) and the adverb “des” (thereof), and means “in this place” or “on that account”. | |||
| Icelandic | í staðinn | ||
| "Í staðinn" literally means "in the place" and can also refer to a replacement or substitute. | |||
| Irish | ina ionad | ||
| "Ina ionad" is also an idiomatic expression meaning "in place of". | |||
| Italian | anziché | ||
| The word "anziché" derives from the Latin phrase "ante quam", meaning "before what". | |||
| Luxembourgish | amplaz | ||
| The word "amplaz" is derived from the Latin word "in place" and is used in Luxembourgish to express the idea of a substitute or replacement. | |||
| Maltese | minflok | ||
| The word "minflok" is derived from the Italian word "invece". | |||
| Norwegian | i stedet | ||
| The Norwegian word "i stedet" literally means "in the place" and can also mean "instead of" or "in lieu of". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | em vez de | ||
| "Em vez de" is the Portuguese equivalent of the prepositional phrase "in place of". In addition to its primary meaning of "instead", it can also be used to describe a substitute or replacement. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | an àite sin | ||
| Historically, "an àite sin" meant "in place of that" or "rather" and was used to avoid saying something negative about the subject of a sentence. | |||
| Spanish | en lugar | ||
| The phrase "en lugar" can also mean "in place of" or "instead of" in Spanish. | |||
| Swedish | istället | ||
| Istället is originally a prepositional phrase and still means literally 'in the stead' of something else. | |||
| Welsh | yn lle | ||
| The word 'yn lle' is also used in Welsh to express 'in place of' or 'on behalf of'. | |||
Instead in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | замест гэтага | ||
| The phrase "замест гэтага" can also mean "by means of this" or "to replace something" in more formal contexts. | |||
| Bosnian | umjesto toga | ||
| "Umjesto toga" derives from "mjesto" (place) and literally means "in place of "} | |||
| Bulgarian | вместо | ||
| The word "вместо" in Bulgarian can also mean "in place of" or "as a substitute for". | |||
| Czech | namísto | ||
| "Namísto" (instead) comes from the Proto-Slavic root "naměstъ", meaning "substitute". | |||
| Estonian | selle asemel | ||
| Selle asemel shares its stem with many other words in Estonian, such as asetus (condition), asetada (to place), and asend (exchange, substitution, replacement, position). | |||
| Finnish | sen sijaan | ||
| Sen sijaan literally means 'in its place', as sijaan means 'in stead' but can also mean 'in spite of'. | |||
| Hungarian | helyette | ||
| The word "helyette" in Hungarian comes from the words "hely" (place) and "ett" (this). | |||
| Latvian | tā vietā | ||
| The word "tā vietā" can also mean "in that place" or "in his/her place". | |||
| Lithuanian | vietoj to | ||
| The word "vietoj to" is a contraction of the words "vietoj togo" which means "instead of that" in Lithuanian. | |||
| Macedonian | наместо тоа | ||
| The etymology of the Macedonian word "наместо тоа" is likely related to the Proto-Indo-European root "*kʰem-", which also gave rise to the English word "home". | |||
| Polish | zamiast | ||
| The word "zamiast" derives from the Old Church Slavonic word "zamĕstiti", meaning "to replace" or "to substitute". | |||
| Romanian | in schimb | ||
| The word "in schimb" in Romanian shares the same root with "change" in English, and it can also mean "exchange" or "in return". | |||
| Russian | вместо | ||
| "Вместо" also has the meaning of "in place of" or "in the absence of". | |||
| Serbian | уместо тога | ||
| Уместо тога is derived from the Serbian words 'умјесто' (instead of) and 'тако' (so), and can also mean 'however' or 'in that case'. | |||
| Slovak | namiesto toho | ||
| The Slovak word "namiesto" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "naměsto", meaning "in place of" or "on behalf of." | |||
| Slovenian | namesto tega | ||
| The word 'namesto tega' literally means 'in the place of this'. | |||
| Ukrainian | натомість | ||
| The Ukrainian word for "instead," натомість, is derived from the preposition на, which means "on," and the noun місце, meaning "place." Thus, the full meaning of натомість is "in place of". | |||
Instead in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | পরিবর্তে | ||
| The Bengali word "পরিবর্তে" ("instead") can also mean "in exchange for" or "as a replacement for". | |||
| Gujarati | તેના બદલે | ||
| The word "instead" derives from the Old English "in stede," meaning "in place (of)" or "in position (of)" | |||
| Hindi | बजाय | ||
| बजाय (instead) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'vikalpa' meaning 'alternative' or 'option'. | |||
| Kannada | ಬದಲಾಗಿ | ||
| In English, "badalaagi" is an adverb which means to perform an act instead of something else, swap, change one for another, or exchange. | |||
| Malayalam | പകരം | ||
| "പകരം" is related to "പക്വ" (cooked), as the substitute for an object is also considered 'ripe' in its own way, hence deserving the title 'instead'" | |||
| Marathi | त्याऐवजी | ||
| The word "त्याऐवजी" can also be used to mean "in place of" or "as a substitute for". | |||
| Nepali | सट्टा | ||
| The word 'सट्टा' can also mean 'guess' or 'wager' in Nepali, indicating its association with uncertainty and chance. | |||
| Punjabi | ਇਸ ਦੀ ਬਜਾਏ | ||
| The word "ਇਸ ਦੀ ਬਜਾਏ" comes from the word "इसके" in Hindi which means "this", and the word "बजाय" which means "instead". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වෙනුවට | ||
| "වෙනුවට" is used in the context of 'on behalf of' and 'in place of' | |||
| Tamil | அதற்கு பதிலாக | ||
| Telugu | బదులుగా | ||
| "బదులుగా" can also mean 'instead of' or 'in place of' in English. | |||
| Urdu | اس کے بجائے | ||
Instead in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 代替 | ||
| 代替 (dàitì) also means "to take the place of" | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 代替 | ||
| 代替 is a combination of the characters 代 (dài, "to act on behalf of") and 替 (tì, "to replace"). | |||
| Japanese | 代わりに | ||
| "代わりに" can be used with a verb in the negative form to convey "to refrain from doing something" (doing something no longer). | |||
| Korean | 대신 | ||
| The word "대신" originated from the Chinese word "代身", meaning "to take the place of someone or something". | |||
| Mongolian | оронд нь | ||
| The Mongolian word "оронд нь" can also mean "in place of" or "in lieu of". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အစား | ||
| အစား can also mean | |||
Instead in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | sebagai gantinya | ||
| Sebagai gantinya contains ganti, root of several words about changes: ganteng (handsome), ganti (change), menggunting (cut), menukar (exchange). | |||
| Javanese | tinimbang | ||
| The word "tinimbang" also means "balance" or "measure" in Javanese. | |||
| Khmer | ជំនួស | ||
| The word ជំនួស (instead) can also mean "substitute" or "alternative." | |||
| Lao | ແທນທີ່ຈະ | ||
| Malay | sebaliknya | ||
| In Indonesian, "sebaliknya" can also mean "on the contrary" or "conversely." | |||
| Thai | แทน | ||
| The word "แทน" can also mean "to represent" or "on behalf of". | |||
| Vietnamese | thay thế | ||
| Thay thế can also mean "to replace" or "to substitute", and is derived from the Chinese word "tàidì" (替代). | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sa halip | ||
Instead in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | əvəzinə | ||
| The word "əvəzinə" can also mean "in return" or "in exchange for". | |||
| Kazakh | орнына | ||
| The word "орнына" (instead) in Kazakh comes from the verb "орнату" (to replace), and can also mean "in place of" or "as a substitute". | |||
| Kyrgyz | ордуна | ||
| The word "ордуна" in Kyrgyz also refers to something being done simultaneously with another action. | |||
| Tajik | ба ҷои | ||
| The word "ба ҷои" is derived from Persian and literally means "in the place of". | |||
| Turkmen | ýerine | ||
| Uzbek | o'rniga | ||
| The word "o'rniga" can also mean "in place of" or "as a substitute for" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | ئۇنىڭ ئورنىغا | ||
Instead in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ma kahi | ||
| The word "ma kahi" can also mean "in place of" or "in lieu of". | |||
| Maori | hei utu mo | ||
| "Hei utu mo" can also mean "in return for" or "to compensate for". | |||
| Samoan | nai lo lena | ||
| The word "nai lo lena" in Samoan is a contraction of the phrase "nai lo le mea lea," which literally means "in the place of the thing there." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | sa halip | ||
| "Sa halip" is also an idiom meaning "to take the place of" or "to substitute". | |||
Instead in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | maysatxa | ||
| Guarani | rãngue | ||
Instead in International Languages
| Esperanto | anstataŭe | ||
| "Anstataŭe" is Esperanto for "instead", but it literally means "in place of (ansto)" (or to stand for something). | |||
| Latin | pro | ||
| The Latin "pro" can also mean "in front of" or "in behalf of". | |||
Instead in Others Languages
| Greek | αντι αυτου | ||
| The word "αντι αυτου" in Greek can literally mean "in exchange for him" and it can be used not only in the sense of replacement but also as a price. | |||
| Hmong | hloov | ||
| Hmong word "hloov" can also mean "exchange" | |||
| Kurdish | di ber | ||
| The origin of the Kurdish word "di ber" can be traced back to the Old Persian preposition "upari-bar," meaning "on top," or "above." | |||
| Turkish | yerine | ||
| The word 'yerine' is also used in Turkish to mean 'your place' or 'your position'. | |||
| Xhosa | endaweni yoko | ||
| The term 'endaweni yoko' in Xhosa can be broken down into 'endaweni' meaning 'in place of' and 'yoko' meaning 'there,' together conveying the concept of substitution. | |||
| Yiddish | אַנשטאָט | ||
| אַנשטאָט derives from Middle High German "an stete", which means "in the place of". | |||
| Zulu | esikhundleni salokho | ||
| The word 'esikhundleni' can also mean 'in the place of', and 'salokho' can mean 'in place of' or 'in lieu of'. | |||
| Assamese | ইয়াৰ পৰিৱৰ্তে | ||
| Aymara | maysatxa | ||
| Bhojpuri | बदला में | ||
| Dhivehi | ބަދަލުގައި | ||
| Dogri | बजाए | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sa halip | ||
| Guarani | rãngue | ||
| Ilocano | saan ketdi a | ||
| Krio | bifo dat | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | لەجیاتی | ||
| Maithili | क' बदला मे | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯍꯨꯠ | ||
| Mizo | aiah | ||
| Oromo | bakka isaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଏହା ପରିବର୍ତ୍ତେ | ||
| Quechua | aswanpas | ||
| Sanskrit | तत्स्थाने | ||
| Tatar | урынына | ||
| Tigrinya | ከክንዲ | ||
| Tsonga | ematshan'wini | ||