Not in Different Languages
Discover 'Not' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Not
Afrikaans nie | ||
Albanian jo | ||
Amharic አይደለም | ||
Arabic ليس | ||
Armenian ոչ | ||
Assamese নহয় | ||
Aymara janiwa | ||
Azerbaijani yox | ||
Bambara ayi | ||
Basque ez | ||
Belarusian не | ||
Bengali না | ||
Bhojpuri नाहीं | ||
Bosnian nije | ||
Bulgarian не | ||
Catalan no | ||
Cebuano dili | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 不 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 不 | ||
Corsican micca | ||
Croatian ne | ||
Czech ne | ||
Danish ikke | ||
Dhivehi ނޫން | ||
Dogri नेईं | ||
Dutch niet | ||
English not | ||
Esperanto ne | ||
Estonian mitte | ||
Ewe o | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) hindi | ||
Finnish ei | ||
French ne pas | ||
Frisian net | ||
Galician non | ||
Georgian არა | ||
German nicht | ||
Greek δεν | ||
Guarani nahániri | ||
Gujarati નથી | ||
Haitian Creole pa | ||
Hausa ba | ||
Hawaiian ʻaʻole | ||
Hebrew לֹא | ||
Hindi नहीं | ||
Hmong tsis tau | ||
Hungarian nem | ||
Icelandic ekki | ||
Igbo ọ bụghị | ||
Ilocano saan | ||
Indonesian tidak | ||
Irish ní | ||
Italian non | ||
Japanese ない | ||
Javanese ora | ||
Kannada ಅಲ್ಲ | ||
Kazakh емес | ||
Khmer មិនមែនទេ | ||
Kinyarwanda ntabwo | ||
Konkani ना | ||
Korean 아니 | ||
Krio nɔto | ||
Kurdish ne | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) نەخێر | ||
Kyrgyz эмес | ||
Lao ບໍ່ | ||
Latin non | ||
Latvian nē | ||
Lingala te | ||
Lithuanian ne | ||
Luganda -li | ||
Luxembourgish net | ||
Macedonian не | ||
Maithili नहि | ||
Malagasy tsy | ||
Malay tidak | ||
Malayalam അല്ല | ||
Maltese mhux | ||
Maori kaore | ||
Marathi नाही | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯅꯠꯇꯕ | ||
Mizo lo | ||
Mongolian үгүй | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မဟုတ်ဘူး | ||
Nepali हैन | ||
Norwegian ikke | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) ayi | ||
Odia (Oriya) ନୁହେଁ | ||
Oromo miti | ||
Pashto نه | ||
Persian نه | ||
Polish nie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) não | ||
Punjabi ਨਹੀਂ | ||
Quechua mana | ||
Romanian nu | ||
Russian не | ||
Samoan leai | ||
Sanskrit नहि | ||
Scots Gaelic chan eil | ||
Sepedi ga se | ||
Serbian не | ||
Sesotho che | ||
Shona kwete | ||
Sindhi نه | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) නැත | ||
Slovak nie | ||
Slovenian ne | ||
Somali maahan | ||
Spanish no | ||
Sundanese henteu | ||
Swahili la | ||
Swedish inte | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) hindi | ||
Tajik не | ||
Tamil இல்லை | ||
Tatar түгел | ||
Telugu కాదు | ||
Thai ไม่ | ||
Tigrinya ዘይኮነ | ||
Tsonga ngavi | ||
Turkish değil | ||
Turkmen däl | ||
Twi (Akan) n | ||
Ukrainian ні | ||
Urdu نہیں | ||
Uyghur ئەمەس | ||
Uzbek emas | ||
Vietnamese không phải | ||
Welsh ddim | ||
Xhosa hayi | ||
Yiddish נישט | ||
Yoruba kii ṣe | ||
Zulu hhayi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "nie" in Afrikaans ultimately derives from the same Proto-Germanic root as the English word "nay" |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "jo" also means "no". |
| Amharic | The word "አይደለም" ("not") in Amharic is derived from the negative verb form "አይ" ("is not") and the verb "ደለ" ("to be"). |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "ليس" ("not") can also refer to "the thing which is not" or "the non-existent." |
| Armenian | The word "ոչ" can also refer to a "negative vote" or a "lack of response" in Armenian. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "yox" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Old Persian word "na" meaning "no" or "none" and is cognate with the word "no" in English. |
| Basque | In Basque, "ez" also means "no" and "lack of". |
| Belarusian | The word "не" can also mean "no" or "there is not" in Belarusian. |
| Bengali | The term "না" is also a short form of the name for the Hindu goddess Durga. |
| Bosnian | The word "nije" in Bosnian originates from the Proto-Slavic word *nь, which also meant "no". |
| Bulgarian | "Не" is also used to form negative pronouns (e.g. "никой" - nobody) and negative adverbs (e.g. "никога" - never). |
| Catalan | In Catalan, 'no' primarily means 'not', but it can also signify 'no more', 'not yet' or express negation in questions. |
| Cebuano | "Dili" can also mean "not yet" or "don't". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word '不' can also mean 'no' or 'disapproval' in Chinese. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | '不' is an ancient Chinese character that originally represented a snake or worm that can't be straightened out. |
| Corsican | Corsican 'micca' derives from Latin 'mica', meaning 'crumb', 'small quantity', 'nothingness' |
| Croatian | In Croatian, “ne” can also be a prefix meaning “without,” as in “nepovoljan” (unfavorable). |
| Czech | In Czech, "ne" is an emphatic form of negation and is used in place of "ne" (not) for clarity. |
| Danish | The word "ikke" in Danish derives from Old Norse "ekki," meaning "forever," and "at ekki," meaning "not at all." |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "niet" is derived from Old English "nawiht" meaning "nothing". |
| Esperanto | The word "ne" is derived from the Latin "non" and also means "no" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "mitte" has Proto-Uralic, Proto-Baltic, Sanskrit, Armenian, and Latin cognates. |
| Finnish | The word "ei" is also used in the conditional "jos...niin" instead of the standard "jos...ni". |
| French | The French phrase "ne pas" originated from the Latin words "nec" (not) and "passus" (step). |
| Frisian | The word "net" can also mean "fishnet" in Frisian. |
| Galician | In Galician, "non" also means "no" and "none". |
| Georgian | The word არა in Georgian can also mean “no” as a response to a question, or “nothing” as in “there is nothing in the box”. |
| German | The word 'nicht' is a cognate to the English word 'night' as well the Dutch 'niet'. |
| Greek | The word "δεν" can also be used as an alternative to "δε", another form of "not" in Greek. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "નથી" is derived from the Sanskrit word "नास्ति", which means "does not exist". It can also express negation in the present tense as well as the future tense. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "pa" in Haitian Creole can also mean "no more" or "never again." |
| Hausa | The word "ba" in Hausa is also an adjective which refers to something lacking something else. |
| Hawaiian | 'Aʻoleʻ could also mean "very little," referring to quantity or existence. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "לא" can also mean "no" and "not yet". |
| Hindi | The word "नहीं" is derived from the Sanskrit particle "ना", which also means "not". |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "tsis tau" (not) is derived from the Chinese word "bu dao" (not reach). |
| Hungarian | Nem can also be used in Hungarian as the name day or birthday of a female relative or close friend. |
| Icelandic | Ekki is a diminutive of the Old Norse eigi and is cognate with the English word "nay". |
| Igbo | While ọ bụghị functions as a negator in modern Igbo, it derives from the verb stem gbụ (to deny, refuse) and originally meant "it is not so". |
| Indonesian | The word "tidak" in Indonesian also has the alternate meaning of "nothing" or "none". |
| Irish | In Irish, the word 'ní' is not only used in negative sentences, it can also be found in interrogative sentences with the meaning of 'is it not?' |
| Italian | The word “non” in Italian can also mean "not yet" or "never" |
| Japanese | The word "nai" can also mean "none" or "there is not," and it is often used in negative constructions. |
| Javanese | In Javanese, "ora" can also be used to form negation words, such as "ora ana" (there is none), "ora duwe" (do not have), or "ora iso" (not able). |
| Kannada | 'ಅಲ್ಲ' (not) in Kannada can also mean a place to reside or a home. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "емес" has historically also been used to express the sense of "different" or "other". |
| Korean | "아니" can also be used to express surprise or disbelief. |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish, "ne" can have both a negative and an interrogative meaning, similar to the English "nay" and "isn't it". |
| Kyrgyz | In addition to its primary meaning as "not," the Kyrgyz word "эмес" can also be used to indicate a negative response or to emphasize the impossibility or undesirability of something. |
| Lao | In Lao, "ບໍ່" can have an additional meaning of "don't" or "no" when used as part of a negative imperative. |
| Latin | The Latin word "non" can also be used as a noun to mean "none" or "nonentity". |
| Latvian | "Nē" also means "not this" or "no, this is not it". |
| Lithuanian | The word "ne" can also mean "no" or "no one" in Lithuanian. |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "net" (net) can also mean "still" or "yet". |
| Macedonian | The word "не" also functions as a conjunction meaning "but". |
| Malagasy | The word "tsy" in Malagasy is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *sa, meaning "not," and can also be used as a prefix to form negative words. |
| Malay | The Malay word 'tidak' (not) is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word '*tidaka', which originally meant 'there isn't', suggesting an underlying negative existential meaning. |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word |
| Maltese | The word "mhux" in Maltese can also mean "unless". |
| Maori | The word "kaore" can also be used to express the concepts of absence or lack. |
| Marathi | The word "नाही" in Marathi has cognates in several other Indo-Aryan languages, including Hindi and Gujarati, and may share an etymological origin with the Persian word "نه" (na). |
| Mongolian | 'Үгүй' can also mean 'without' or 'that which does not exist'. |
| Nepali | The word "हैन" in Nepali can also mean "to exist" or "to be present". |
| Norwegian | "Ikke" in Norwegian can also mean "never before." |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Ayi comes from the verb ņĩona "to refuse", which also gave rise to a negative marker ņŏ that merged with ayi as a result of phonetic assimilation. |
| Pashto | نه (na) means 'no' or 'not' in Pashto, but can also be used as an exclamation of surprise or annoyance, or to express agreement or consent. |
| Persian | The word "نه" can also be used as an exclamation of surprise or shock. |
| Polish | The word 'nie' used as a negation in Polish is derived from the Proto-Slavic 'ne-iti', meaning 'to go without', and is not directly related to the words for 'no' in other Slavic languages. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Its etymology points to the Medieval Latin 'naon', which means 'now,' and it may also be an archaism of 'non,' which also means 'now,' with the addition of the negating suffix '-on'. |
| Punjabi | ਨਹੀਂ is also used in Punjabi to indicate the past tense of a verb or to make a sentence negative. |
| Romanian | The word "nu" can also mean "only" or "just" in Romanian. |
| Russian | The word "не" in Russian can also be used to emphasize the meaning of another word in the sentence, similar to "даже" ("even"). |
| Samoan | In Samoan, leai also means 'without' |
| Scots Gaelic | "Chan eil" (not), like the negated verb "cha" (not-be), derives its origin from the Irish language, and is not, therefore, of Celtic origin. |
| Serbian | In Serbian, the word "не" (not) can be used as a negative particle and also as a prefix to indicate the opposite of an adjective. |
| Sesotho | The word "che" in Sesotho means "not" and can also be used as a negative answer. |
| Shona | The Shona word 'kwete' can also mean a lack of something or an absence |
| Sindhi | 'نه' is derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian *na, which also became 'no' in English and 'nein' in German. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word "නැත" (not) has several alternative meanings, including "no" and "not yet". |
| Slovak | The word "nie" in Slovak also means "never" or "no way". |
| Slovenian | Ne, besides meaning “not”, can emphasize negation through repetition (“nem, nem! — no, no!”) or be an affirmative interjection with the value “yes.” |
| Somali | Maahan can also mean "not yet" or "never". |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "no" has Indo-European roots, descending from the Proto-Indo-European negative particle *ne-. |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, the word "henteu" also means "no longer" or "never". |
| Swahili | In Swahili, "la" (not) also has an alternative meaning of "not yet". |
| Swedish | The word "inte" in Swedish was originally two words, "in the" (meaning "not the"), which later developed into a single word. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In some regional dialects it is synonymous with 'no' or 'none'. |
| Tajik | The morpheme "не" may also appear in the forms "ни" and "нет" |
| Tamil | "இல்லை" also means 'empty', 'there is not', and 'it is not there' |
| Telugu | "కాదు" originally meant "something that does not produce" and was later used as a negative particle. |
| Thai | 'ไม่' (not) shares an etymology with 'ม่าย' (widow), but has come to have multiple other meanings. |
| Turkish | The word "değil" can also mean "rather" or "other than" in Turkish. |
| Ukrainian | The word "ні" can also be used as a noun meaning "nothingness" or "emptiness". |
| Urdu | The word "نہیں" can also mean "no" in Urdu when used in a negative context. |
| Uzbek | Emas may also be used to emphasize a negative verb, turning it into an imperative. For example, “Kelma” means “come,” while “Kelma emas” means “don't come.” |
| Vietnamese | The Vietnamese word "không phải" has Chinese origin meaning "should not" or "must not" |
| Welsh | The word 'ddim' can also mean 'no', 'not at all', or 'certainly not' in Welsh. |
| Xhosa | *Hayi* can also mean 'not yet' or 'not so' depending on context. |
| Yiddish | "נישט" can also mean "nothing" or "no one" in Yiddish, depending on the context. |
| Yoruba | "Kii ṣe" is also used in the sense of "cannot" or "will not". |
| Zulu | The word 'hhayi' can also be used to mean 'no', 'no worries' or 'never'. |
| English | The word "not" derives from the Old English "nawiht", meaning "nothing". |