Must in Different Languages
Discover 'Must' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Must
Afrikaans moet | ||
Albanian duhet | ||
Amharic አለበት | ||
Arabic يجب | ||
Armenian պետք է | ||
Assamese অৱশ্যেই | ||
Aymara manuwa | ||
Azerbaijani olmalıdır | ||
Bambara kan | ||
Basque behar | ||
Belarusian мусіць | ||
Bengali অবশ্যই | ||
Bhojpuri जरूर | ||
Bosnian mora | ||
Bulgarian трябва да | ||
Catalan haver de | ||
Cebuano kinahanglan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 必须 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 必須 | ||
Corsican deve | ||
Croatian mora | ||
Czech musí | ||
Danish skal | ||
Dhivehi މަޖުބޫރު | ||
Dogri जरूर | ||
Dutch moet | ||
English must | ||
Esperanto devas | ||
Estonian peab | ||
Ewe dze be | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dapat | ||
Finnish on pakko | ||
French doit | ||
Frisian moatte | ||
Galician debe | ||
Georgian უნდა | ||
German muss | ||
Greek πρέπει | ||
Guarani hembiapo | ||
Gujarati જ જોઈએ | ||
Haitian Creole dwe | ||
Hausa dole ne | ||
Hawaiian pono | ||
Hebrew צריך | ||
Hindi जरूर | ||
Hmong yuav tsum | ||
Hungarian kell | ||
Icelandic verður | ||
Igbo ga-emerịrị | ||
Ilocano kasapulan | ||
Indonesian harus | ||
Irish ní mór | ||
Italian dovere | ||
Japanese しなければならない | ||
Javanese kudu | ||
Kannada ಮಾಡಬೇಕು | ||
Kazakh керек | ||
Khmer ត្រូវតែ | ||
Kinyarwanda igomba | ||
Konkani आसूंकूच जाय | ||
Korean 절대로 필요한 것 | ||
Krio mɔs | ||
Kurdish mecbûrmayin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێویستە | ||
Kyrgyz керек | ||
Lao ຕ້ອງ | ||
Latin oportebit | ||
Latvian jābūt | ||
Lingala esengeli | ||
Lithuanian turi | ||
Luganda okuteekwa | ||
Luxembourgish mussen | ||
Macedonian мора | ||
Maithili आवश्यक | ||
Malagasy dia tsy maintsy | ||
Malay mesti | ||
Malayalam നിർബന്ധമായും | ||
Maltese għandu | ||
Maori me | ||
Marathi हे केलेच पाहिजे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯣꯏꯗꯅ ꯑꯣꯏꯒꯗꯕ | ||
Mizo ngei | ||
Mongolian ёстой | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မဖြစ်မနေ | ||
Nepali पर्छ | ||
Norwegian må | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) ayenera | ||
Odia (Oriya) ନିଶ୍ଚୟ | | ||
Oromo dirqama | ||
Pashto باید | ||
Persian باید | ||
Polish musieć | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) devo | ||
Punjabi ਲਾਜ਼ਮੀ ਹੈ | ||
Quechua mañakuy | ||
Romanian trebuie sa | ||
Russian должен | ||
Samoan tatau | ||
Sanskrit अवश्यम् | ||
Scots Gaelic feumaidh | ||
Sepedi swanetše | ||
Serbian мора | ||
Sesotho tlameha | ||
Shona unofanira | ||
Sindhi ضروري آهي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම | ||
Slovak musieť | ||
Slovenian mora | ||
Somali waa in | ||
Spanish debe | ||
Sundanese kudu | ||
Swahili lazima | ||
Swedish måste | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dapat | ||
Tajik бояд | ||
Tamil வேண்டும் | ||
Tatar булырга тиеш | ||
Telugu తప్పక | ||
Thai ต้อง | ||
Tigrinya ግድን | ||
Tsonga fanele | ||
Turkish zorunlu | ||
Turkmen hökman | ||
Twi (Akan) ɛwɔ sɛ | ||
Ukrainian повинен | ||
Urdu لازمی | ||
Uyghur چوقۇم | ||
Uzbek kerak | ||
Vietnamese phải | ||
Welsh rhaid | ||
Xhosa kufuneka | ||
Yiddish מוז | ||
Yoruba gbọdọ | ||
Zulu kumele |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "moet" can also mean "to have to, must, ought to, need to". |
| Albanian | The word derives from the Proto-Indo-European "*dʰewbʰ-" which also means to run. |
| Amharic | The word "አለበት" in Amharic is often understood as a modal auxiliary to express necessity or obligation, but it can also be used as a possessive form of the verb "to have". |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "يجب" also means "it is necessary" or "it is obligatory." |
| Armenian | Պետ(ք) (pet(k)), the stem of պետք է in Armenian, originally meant “need”/“demand”/“requirement,” from which the current meaning (“must”) derived from over time. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "olmalıdır" is derived from the verb "olmaq" (to be) and the suffix "-malıdır" (indicating necessity). |
| Basque | The word 'behar' can also mean 'need' or 'lack' in Basque. |
| Belarusian | The word "мусіць" can mean "to have to" or "to be obliged to" in the literary style. |
| Bengali | The word "অবশ্যই" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अवश्यम्", meaning "without fail". It can also imply "inevitably" or "unfailingly". |
| Bosnian | The word "mora" in Bosnian is also used to refer to a small pause or resting point in music. |
| Bulgarian | The phrase "трябва да" derives from the Old Church Slavonic "трѣбовати", meaning "to be necessary". |
| Catalan | The word 'haver de' ('must') in Catalan originates from Latin 'habere de' meaning 'have necessity' |
| Cebuano | Kinahanglan came from the root word "hinanglan" which means "necessary" or "essential". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character 须 literally means “whiskers” and was associated with the idea of "following the rules". Thus its use to describe something that is compulsory. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 必須 is derived from 必 ('necessary') and 須 ('need'), emphasizing the crucial and unavoidable nature of something. |
| Corsican | Corsican "deve" relates both to obligation and fate, from Latin "debere" (to owe). |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "mora" can also mean "nightmare" or "hag". |
| Czech | The word "musí" comes from the Old Czech word "muoseti", which means "to have to" or "to be necessary". |
| Danish | The word "skal" can also mean "to make a toast" and is often used in festive contexts, where people raise their glasses and say "skål" before drinking. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "moet" can also mean "courage" or "bravery". |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "devas" can also mean "needs to", "has to", or "is necessary." |
| Estonian | "Peab" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "päδä-, which also meant "to be obliged" and "to have to." |
| Finnish | "Pakko" also means "package" in Finnish, derived from the Swedish word "pack". |
| French | The word "doit" in French comes from the Latin word "debere", which means "to owe" or "to be under an obligation". |
| Frisian | The word "moatte" can also mean "may" or "should" in Frisian. |
| Galician | The Galician word "debe" comes from medieval Latin "debere" with the meanings "owe" and "have to do" |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "უნდა" derives from the Proto-Indo-European verb root *uen-, which also gave rise to the English word "want" and the Latin word "voluntas" (will). |
| German | The word "Muss" in German is derived from the Old High German "muoz" and originally meant "necessity" or "obligation" rather than its current meaning of "must". |
| Greek | The Greek word "πρέπει" can also mean "it is appropriate" or "it is fitting. |
| Gujarati | The term "જ જોઈએ" is also used to convey a sense of urgency, meaning "urgently requires someone's attention". It signifies a compelling demand for immediate action. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "dwe" in Haitian Creole also means "have to" and "need to." |
| Hausa | The word "dole ne" can either mean "must" or "is compulsory" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "pono" can also mean "righteousness" or "correctness". |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "צריך" (tsakrich) can also mean "to require," "to have to," or "to need." |
| Hindi | The word "जरूर" (must) in Hindi can also mean "certainly" or "definitely". |
| Hmong | The word "yuav tsum" can also mean "obligated" or "mandatory" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | The word "kell" is also used as a noun meaning "necessity" or "obligation". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "verður" originally meant "to become" but has since taken on the meaning of "must". |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "ga-emerịrị" means "must" in English, and it is believed to have originated from the phrase "ga na-emerịrị m," which means "it is happening to me." |
| Indonesian | 'Harus' is also used as a response to a call, similar to 'hello' or 'yes.' |
| Irish | Ní mór also means 'not great' or 'not much'. |
| Italian | "Dovere" comes from Latin "debere" meaning "to owe", implying an obligation or duty to perform an action. |
| Japanese | "しなければならない" (must) was originally used to describe that something was necessary but unpleasant. |
| Javanese | The word "kudu" in Javanese also has a connotation of necessity or obligation. |
| Kannada | The word "ಮಾಡಬೇಕು" in Kannada can also mean "should" or "have to". |
| Kazakh | The word "керек" in Kazakh, meaning "must," also has connotations of "need" and "necessity." |
| Khmer | The word "ត្រូវតែ" can also mean "should" or "ought to" in Khmer. |
| Kurdish | Mebcûrmayin derives from the Arabic word 'majbur', which also means 'obligation', and shares a similar root with the Kurdish word 'mecbûr' for 'forced'. |
| Kyrgyz | The verb "керек" can also mean "need" or "require" in Kyrgyz. |
| Lao | In Lao, 'ຕ້ອງ' can also refer to 'obligated', 'determined' or 'inevitable'. |
| Latin | "Oportebit" in Latin also denotes a type of Roman garment, a long, sleeveless tunic worn by women. |
| Latvian | The word "jābūt" can also mean "must be" or "should be". |
| Lithuanian | "Turi" may come from the Proto-Indo-European root *tewr, meaning "to give" or "to sacrifice," and is related to the Sanskrit word "dā́ti," meaning "to give." |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word "mussen" is derived from the Old High German "muoz", meaning "to have to" or "to be obliged to". |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word "мора" can also be used to refer to night terrors, nightmares, or sleep paralysis. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "dia tsy maintsy" derives from the Proto-Austronesian word *ma-i, which also means "must" or "should" in many other Austronesian languages. |
| Malay | "Mesti" is an old-fashioned Malay spelling variant for the word "mesti", which is also the word for "certainly" in Indonesian. |
| Maltese | The word 'għandu' can also mean 'it's his' or 'it's hers' in Maltese. |
| Maori | In Maori, "me" also carries the connotation of "being required" or "something necessary to be done". |
| Marathi | "हे केलेच पाहिजे" can also mean "it must be done" in Marathi and is commonly used in sentences to express obligation or necessity. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word ёстой (must) may be related to the word ээ (father) and may have once meant "paternal". |
| Nepali | पर्छ's alternate meaning as "sufficient" might've stemmed from its Sanskrit origin (पर्याप्त), conveying abundance and adequacy. |
| Norwegian | The word "må", meaning "must", derives from the Old Norse "má", which could also mean "to have time for" or "to be able to afford." |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Ayenela" is a more formal Nyanja word for "must," and it often implies necessity or obligation. |
| Pashto | Pashto "باید" is a present imperfect verb that may also correspond to "may" in English, not only "must." |
| Persian | باید can also colloquially mean "maybe" or "could" in Persian. |
| Polish | The word "musieć" derives from the Proto-Slavic word "*musití", meaning "to be forced or compelled". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Devo, from Latin "debēre," can also mean "to owe" and "to be necessary." |
| Romanian | In Romanian, the word "trebuie sa" can mean either "must" or "have to" |
| Russian | The word "должен" has Slavic roots shared with words meaning "debt" in many European languages. |
| Samoan | In Samoan, "tatau" can also refer to a tattoo, a permanent mark or design made on the skin by inserting ink. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "feumaidh" can also mean "necessary" or "obliged" in Scots Gaelic. |
| Serbian | The word "мора" can also refer to a type of female vampire in Slavic folklore. |
| Sesotho | Tlameha is also used to indicate a need or obligation, and can be translated as "must" or "should". |
| Shona | The word "unofanira" in Shona can also mean "it is your duty" or "it is your obligation." |
| Slovak | The word "musieť" in Slovak also means "to be capable of". |
| Slovenian | The Slovenian word "mora" (meaning "must") is also related to the verb "moriti" (meaning "to kill") and the noun "mor" (meaning "death"). |
| Somali | "Waa in" also means "it is" in Somali. |
| Spanish | The word "debe" also means "he owes" or "she owes" in Spanish, sharing its etymology with the Latin verb "debēre" (to owe). |
| Sundanese | The word "kudu" in Sundanese can also mean "need to" or "should". |
| Swahili | The word "lazima" in Swahili was originally used to mean "debt", and it still carries this meaning in some contexts. |
| Swedish | In the past, "måste" could also mean "be able to", and related words still retain this meaning in modern Swedish, like "makt" (power) and "förmåga" (ability). |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Though the Tagalog word "dapat" commonly means "must," it also has an alternate meaning of "appropriate" or "rightful." |
| Tajik | In Persian and Tajiki, this verb also has an alternate meaning: to kiss. |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "வேண்டும்" can also mean "to desire" or "to need," and is often used in the sense of obligation or necessity. |
| Telugu | In Telugu, "తప్పక" also means "without fail" or "certainly." |
| Thai | Originally a loanword from Sanskrit that meant "a pillar", but now used exclusively to mean "have to" |
| Turkish | "Zorunlu" derives from "zor" (force), and can also mean "difficult" or "compulsory." |
| Ukrainian | The word "повинен" in Ukrainian can also mean "responsible" or "culpable". |
| Urdu | Etymology: From Persian لازم laazim "necessary." |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "kerak" also has a figurative meaning, referring to the necessity or importance of something. |
| Vietnamese | The word "phải" in Vietnamese is ultimately derived from the Chinese word "必" (bì), meaning "must", "necessary", or "certain". |
| Welsh | This form probably derives from the Middle Welsh word "reid," which originated in the Irish "roid," which can also mean "abundant." |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, the word "kufuneka" also means "to be necessary" or "to be required." |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "מוז" can also be a noun in Hebrew, meaning "a museum". |
| Yoruba | The word "gbọdọ" in Yoruba can also mean "the need", a "requirement", or a "responsibility". |
| Zulu | Zulu 'kumele' is derived from the word 'umele', meaning 'to be compelled' or 'to be obliged'. |
| English | In Middle English, "must" was used to describe new wine as a "new beverage that foams or ferments" |