Question in Different Languages
Discover 'Question' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Question
Afrikaans vraag | ||
Albanian pyetje | ||
Amharic ጥያቄ | ||
Arabic سؤال | ||
Armenian հարց | ||
Assamese প্ৰশ্ন | ||
Aymara jiskt'a | ||
Azerbaijani sual | ||
Bambara ɲininkali | ||
Basque galdera | ||
Belarusian пытанне | ||
Bengali প্রশ্ন | ||
Bhojpuri सवाल | ||
Bosnian pitanje | ||
Bulgarian въпрос | ||
Catalan pregunta | ||
Cebuano pangutana | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 题 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 題 | ||
Corsican dumanda | ||
Croatian pitanje | ||
Czech otázka | ||
Danish spørgsmål | ||
Dhivehi ސުވާލު | ||
Dogri सुआल | ||
Dutch vraag | ||
English question | ||
Esperanto demando | ||
Estonian küsimus | ||
Ewe biabia | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) tanong | ||
Finnish kysymys | ||
French question | ||
Frisian fraach | ||
Galician pregunta | ||
Georgian კითხვა | ||
German frage | ||
Greek ερώτηση | ||
Guarani porandu | ||
Gujarati પ્રશ્ન | ||
Haitian Creole kesyon | ||
Hausa tambaya | ||
Hawaiian nīnau | ||
Hebrew שְׁאֵלָה | ||
Hindi सवाल | ||
Hmong lo lus nug | ||
Hungarian kérdés | ||
Icelandic spurning | ||
Igbo ajụjụ | ||
Ilocano saludsod | ||
Indonesian pertanyaan | ||
Irish cheist | ||
Italian domanda | ||
Japanese 質問 | ||
Javanese pitakon | ||
Kannada ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ | ||
Kazakh сұрақ | ||
Khmer សំណួរ | ||
Kinyarwanda ikibazo | ||
Konkani प्रस्न | ||
Korean 질문 | ||
Krio kwɛstyɔn | ||
Kurdish pirs | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پرسیار | ||
Kyrgyz суроо | ||
Lao ຄຳ ຖາມ | ||
Latin quaestio | ||
Latvian jautājums | ||
Lingala motuna | ||
Lithuanian klausimas | ||
Luganda ekibuuzo | ||
Luxembourgish fro | ||
Macedonian прашање | ||
Maithili प्रश्न | ||
Malagasy fanontaniana | ||
Malay soalan | ||
Malayalam ചോദ്യം | ||
Maltese mistoqsija | ||
Maori pātai | ||
Marathi प्रश्न | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯋꯥꯍꯪ | ||
Mizo zawhna | ||
Mongolian асуулт | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မေးခွန်း | ||
Nepali प्रश्न | ||
Norwegian spørsmål | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) funso | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପ୍ରଶ୍ନ | ||
Oromo gaaffii | ||
Pashto پوښتنه | ||
Persian سوال | ||
Polish pytanie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) questão | ||
Punjabi ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਨ | ||
Quechua tapukuy | ||
Romanian întrebare | ||
Russian вопрос | ||
Samoan fesili | ||
Sanskrit प्रश्न | ||
Scots Gaelic cheist | ||
Sepedi potšišo | ||
Serbian питање | ||
Sesotho potso | ||
Shona mubvunzo | ||
Sindhi سوال | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ප්රශ්නය | ||
Slovak otázka | ||
Slovenian vprašanje | ||
Somali su'aal | ||
Spanish pregunta | ||
Sundanese patarosan | ||
Swahili swali | ||
Swedish fråga | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) tanong | ||
Tajik савол | ||
Tamil கேள்வி | ||
Tatar сорау | ||
Telugu ప్రశ్న | ||
Thai คำถาม | ||
Tigrinya ሕቶ | ||
Tsonga xivutiso | ||
Turkish soru | ||
Turkmen sorag | ||
Twi (Akan) asɛmmisa | ||
Ukrainian питання | ||
Urdu سوال | ||
Uyghur سوئال | ||
Uzbek savol | ||
Vietnamese câu hỏi | ||
Welsh cwestiwn | ||
Xhosa umbuzo | ||
Yiddish פרעגן | ||
Yoruba ibeere | ||
Zulu umbuzo |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "vraag" is derived from the Old English "wraige," meaning "accusation," and its primary meaning in modern Afrikaans is "question." |
| Albanian | The word "pyetje" in Albanian is derived from the Latin word "petitio", meaning "request" or "demand". |
| Amharic | The word 'ጥያቄ' in Amharic also means 'desire' or 'request', and is thought to be derived from the Proto-Semitic word *šʾl, which had a similar meaning. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "سؤال" (question) is derived from the verb "سأل" (to ask), which also means "to beg" or "to request". |
| Armenian | "Հարց" (harts) originates from the Proto-Indo-European word "*kʷṛsós", meaning "to shake" or "to move to and fro", similar to the Latin "quaerere" (to seek) and Greek "κρίνω" (krino, to separate, judge). |
| Azerbaijani | The word “sual” may also refer to “urine” (from Persian “su”, “water”, and Arabic “al”, “the” + Persian “al”, “urine”). |
| Basque | The word galdera (question) in Basque also refers to a type of small freshwater fish from the cyprinid family. |
| Bengali | The word "প্রশ্ন" in Bengali can also mean "doubt", "inquiry", or "examination". |
| Bosnian | The word 'pitanje' also means 'food' or 'meal' in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | The word "въпрос" also means "problem" or "issue". |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "pregunta" comes from the Latin "praecognita," meaning "something known beforehand," suggesting the idea of a question as a request for previously known information. |
| Cebuano | Pangutana, meaning 'question,' is derived from the root word 'pangut,' which also means 'to ask' in Cebuano. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 题 can also mean 'inscribe' as in 'to inscribe a poem on a scroll,' or 'problem' as in a 'math problem'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 題 as a Chinese character can also mean 'subject' (of an essay, painting, etc.) and 'inscription' on a tablet or monument. |
| Corsican | In archaic Corsican, the word dumanda also means "request" and "complaint". |
| Croatian | The word 'pitanje' also means 'food', deriving from the verb 'pitati' to 'ask', 'feed'. |
| Czech | In Old Church Slavonic, "otázka" meant "answer". |
| Danish | The word "spørgsmål" originates from the Old Norse word "spurning", meaning "request" or "demand". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "vraag" is derived from the Old Dutch word "vragen" meaning "to ask". |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "demando" has a legal connotation and also means "to prosecute" in that language. |
| Estonian | Küsimus is thought to be derived from a word meaning “to speak in earnest” and also means “problem”. |
| Finnish | The word "kysymys" is related to the verb "kysyä" ("to ask"), which in turn derives from the Proto-Finnic word "küssä-m" ("to ask, interrogate"). |
| French | In French, the word "question" is also used to mean "torture" or "interrogation under torture". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "fraach" also means "mouth" in some dialects. |
| Galician | Galician "pregunta" ultimately derives from Latin "praedicare", meaning "to proclaim or preach". |
| Georgian | "კითხვა" also means "to read", coming from the Proto-Kartvelian root *k'et'-, meaning "to ask, read". |
| German | "Frage" stems from the Middle High German word "vragen", which also meant "to ask" or "to inquire." |
| Greek | The word "ερώτηση" originates from the Ancient Greek verb "ερωτάω" which means "to ask, inquire, or interrogate". |
| Gujarati | The word "પ્રશ્ન" is derived from Sanskrit and means both "question" and "problem" |
| Haitian Creole | Kksyon derives from the French word 'question,' but also means 'problem' in Haitian Creole. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "tambaya" shares its root with the Arabic verb "talaba," meaning "to seek or ask for." This suggests that the concept of questioning was introduced to Hausa-speaking communities through contact with Arabic-speaking ones. |
| Hawaiian | Hawaiian word “nīnau” can mean a question, a problem, a matter of a question, or a matter of a problem |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "שְׁאֵלָה" (she'elah) is derived from the verb "שָׁאַל" (sha'al), which means "to ask, seek, or inquire." |
| Hindi | In Persian, 'سوال' refers to the answer, but in Hindi it became the word for 'question' instead. |
| Hmong | The word "lo lus nug" derives from 'nug, which means "search" and "lus" the "path". So to "lo lus nug" or "ask a question", is to search for a path of understanding. |
| Hungarian | The word "kérdés" comes from the verb "kérdez", which means "to ask". The suffix "-és" forms abstract nouns from verbs, so "kérdés" literally means "the act of asking". |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, "spurning" can also mean "scoffing" or "contempt." |
| Igbo | In some Igbo dialects, it also means "argument" or "dispute" |
| Indonesian | "Pertanyaan" also means "asking" in Indonesian. |
| Irish | The Irish word "cheist" can also refer to a type of traditional Irish basket woven from straw or rushes. |
| Italian | The Italian word "domanda" comes from the late Latin word demandare "to demand" (compare to English "demand"), from de "from" and mandare "to send". |
| Japanese | The word "質問" (question) comes from the Chinese phrase "問訊", which means "to ask for information". It can also refer to an interrogation or a formal inquiry. |
| Javanese | The second syllable has the sense of "to hold" instead of "to throw," as found in the word "katak" ("frog"). |
| Kannada | The word "ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ" in Kannada derives from the Sanskrit word "प्रश्न," meaning "to ask" or "an inquiry" |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "сұрақ" shares its root with the Turkish word "soru" and the Mongolian word "сориг", all meaning "question" or "inquiry." |
| Khmer | The word សំណួរ can also refer to an interrogative pronoun or adjective in Khmer. |
| Korean | The word "질문" is derived from the Chinese character "質問", which means "to ask a question" or "to interrogate." |
| Kurdish | The word "pirs" also means "ask" in Kurdish and is derived from the Middle Persian word "pirsitan". |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "суроо" (question) is derived from the Proto-Turkic verb *sor "to ask, to inquire." |
| Latin | In Roman law, "quaestio" originally denoted a legal inquiry or prosecution, and later became restricted to referring to the court itself or to its permanent commission, especially in the form of "quaestiones perpetuae." |
| Latvian | “Jautājums” in Old Slavic languages was more connected to the meaning of “sowing” or “planting” (like in Lithuanian “sėti” – “to sow”). |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "klausimas" is derived from the verb "klausyti" (to listen) and originally meant "the act of listening". |
| Luxembourgish | In English 'Fro' means 'question', but in the context of playing cards it means face card. |
| Macedonian | The word "прашање" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "прашати" meaning "to ask" and is related to the words "прах" (dust) and "прахна" (to ask). |
| Malagasy | The word "fanontaniana" is derived from the root "fantana", meaning "to ask" or "to inquire". |
| Malay | The word "soalan" is derived from the Arabic word "sawāl", which means "asking, inquiry, or interrogation." |
| Malayalam | In Sanskrit, "chodanam" means "inciting" and in Malayalam "choodi" means "pointer" both of which are related to the meaning of the word "question" |
| Maltese | The word 'mistoqsija' likely derives from the Arabic 'istifhām', meaning 'question or inquiry' |
| Maori | The Māori word "pātai" is derived from the Proto-Polynesian word "*paqatai" which also means "to seek" or "to inquire." |
| Marathi | The word 'प्रश्न' (question) in Marathi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'प्रश्न' (interrogation), which means 'to ask' or 'to question'. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word for "question", "асуулт," is connected to words for understanding and knowing, such as "асуух," "to ask" or to find out. |
| Nepali | This word is derived from the Sanskrit word "praśna" which means "inquiry". It can also mean a "problem" or "issue". |
| Norwegian | Spørsmål is related to the verb spørre ("to ask") and the noun spurv ("sparrow"), and is thought to stem from the Proto-Germanic *spurw-("ask" or "inquire"). |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "funso" can also mean "problem" or "issue". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "پوښتنه" also means "an inquiry, investigation, or research". |
| Persian | The Persian word "سوال" (question) originally meant "seeking knowledge" and is related to the Arabic word "سؤال" (request). |
| Polish | "Pytanie" is a noun with an Old Czech origin, where "pytati" means "to ask for or inquire." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "questão" can also mean "issue" or "matter", and is related to the Latin "quaestio" meaning "inquiry" or "investigation". |
| Punjabi | ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਨ, in addition to 'question', is derived from a Sanskrit term and can also imply an investigation or inquiry. |
| Romanian | The Romanian "întrebare" (question) comes from the Latin "interrogare" (to ask), while the related noun "întrebare" (interrogation) preserves the original Latin meaning. |
| Russian | The Russian word "вопрос" (question) derives from the Old Church Slavonic "въпросъ" (inquiry), which is cognate with the English word "ask". |
| Samoan | The word "fesili" is also used as an interrogative word meaning "what?" or "who?" |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scots Gaelic, "cheist" not only means "question" but can also refer to a "case" in the legal sense or a "breast" in the anatomical sense. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "питање" (pitanje) has an alternate meaning of "problem" or "trouble". |
| Sesotho | In addition to its primary meaning of 'question', 'potso' can also mean 'riddle' or 'problem' in Sesotho. |
| Sindhi | The word "سوال" (question) in Sindhi is also used to refer to a riddle or a puzzle. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word 'ප්රශ්නය' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'प्रश्न', meaning 'to ask' or 'to inquire'. It can also refer to a 'problem' or 'issue'. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "otázka" is derived from the Proto-Slavic verb *vъprositi, meaning "to ask, to inquire". |
| Slovenian | The word "vprašanje" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *vьprašati, meaning "to ask". |
| Somali | Somali "su'aal" and "su'aa" both mean "question", but "su'aal" is used for a question that is asked, while "su'aa" is used for a question that is written down. |
| Spanish | The word "pregunta" in Spanish derives from the Latin expression "pro re agere" meaning "to speak of a matter"} |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "patarosan" comes from the Proto-Austronesian word “*paRtaq” meaning “break, interrupt, question, challenge”. |
| Swahili | The word "swali" can also refer to a riddle or puzzle in Swahili. |
| Swedish | Fråga's other meaning is 'question mark' as in punctuation and also 'to ask' in imperative form. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Tanong" also means "inquiry" or "query" in Tagalog. |
| Tajik | The word "савол" in Tajik comes from the Persian word "سؤال" which also means "question". |
| Tamil | In Tamil, the word "கேள்வி" is also used to indicate "knowledge" in a specialized sense, denoting sacred knowledge handed down orally in a tradition; this usage is found in ancient religious texts. |
| Telugu | The word "ప్రశ్న" is derived from the Sanskrit word "prashna," meaning "to ask" or "to inquire." |
| Thai | คำถาม originates from the Sanskrit term "prashnam", which also means "riddle". |
| Turkish | In old Turkish soru meant "examination, trial" and even "fate" in a metaphysical sense. |
| Ukrainian | The word "питання" comes from the Old Slavic word "пьтати", meaning "to ask, inquire, or investigate." |
| Urdu | The word “سوال” derives from the Arabic word “sa’ala,” which means “to ask” or “to inquire”. |
| Uzbek | The word "savol" also has the meaning of "purpose" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | "Cậu hỏi" in Vietnamese is a compound word meaning "request to speak" which in turn is derived from the Chinese word 求教 (qiú jiào). |
| Welsh | The word "cwestiwn" is derived from the Latin "quaestio", meaning "inquiry". It can also refer to a legal dispute or a matter for investigation. |
| Xhosa | `umbuzo` refers specifically to questions about someone's health or well-being. |
| Yiddish | "פרעגן" also means "to ask for", referring to asking for a dowry from a potential groom's family. |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word 'ibeere' also refers to 'an inquiry', 'a query', 'an examination', 'a test', 'a request for information', or 'a petition'. |
| Zulu | The word 'umbuzo' is derived from the verb 'ukubuza', meaning 'to ask'. |
| English | The word "question" comes from the Latin word "quaestio," meaning "inquiry" or "inquisition." |