Somebody in Different Languages
Discover 'Somebody' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Somebody
Afrikaans iemand | ||
Albanian dikush | ||
Amharic አንድ ሰው | ||
Arabic شخص ما | ||
Armenian ինչ-որ մեկը | ||
Assamese কোনোবাই | ||
Aymara khithi | ||
Azerbaijani kimsə | ||
Bambara mɔgɔ | ||
Basque norbait | ||
Belarusian хто-небудзь | ||
Bengali কেউ | ||
Bhojpuri केहू | ||
Bosnian neko | ||
Bulgarian някой | ||
Catalan algú | ||
Cebuano usa ka tawo | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 有人 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 有人 | ||
Corsican qualchissia | ||
Croatian netko | ||
Czech někdo | ||
Danish en eller anden | ||
Dhivehi ކޮންމެވެސް މީހެއް | ||
Dogri कोई | ||
Dutch iemand | ||
English somebody | ||
Esperanto iu | ||
Estonian keegi | ||
Ewe ame aɖe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) isang tao | ||
Finnish joku | ||
French quelqu'un | ||
Frisian immen | ||
Galician alguén | ||
Georgian ვიღაც | ||
German jemanden | ||
Greek κάποιος | ||
Guarani máva | ||
Gujarati કોઈકને | ||
Haitian Creole yon moun | ||
Hausa wani | ||
Hawaiian kekahi | ||
Hebrew מִישֶׁהוּ | ||
Hindi कोई | ||
Hmong ib leej twg | ||
Hungarian valaki | ||
Icelandic einhver | ||
Igbo a | ||
Ilocano maysa a tao | ||
Indonesian seseorang | ||
Irish duine éigin | ||
Italian qualcuno | ||
Japanese 誰か | ||
Javanese piyantun | ||
Kannada ಯಾರೋ | ||
Kazakh біреу | ||
Khmer នរណាម្នាក់ | ||
Kinyarwanda umuntu | ||
Konkani कोणतरी | ||
Korean 어떤 사람 | ||
Krio sɔmbɔdi | ||
Kurdish kesek | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کەسێک | ||
Kyrgyz бирөө | ||
Lao ບາງຄົນ | ||
Latin quis | ||
Latvian kāds | ||
Lingala moto moko | ||
Lithuanian kažkas | ||
Luganda omuntu | ||
Luxembourgish iergendeen | ||
Macedonian некој | ||
Maithili कोए | ||
Malagasy olona | ||
Malay seseorang | ||
Malayalam ഏതോഒരാള് | ||
Maltese xi ħadd | ||
Maori tangata | ||
Marathi कुणीतरी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯀꯅꯥꯒꯨꯝꯕ ꯑꯃ | ||
Mizo tu emaw | ||
Mongolian хэн нэгэн | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) တစ်စုံတစ်ယောက် | ||
Nepali कोही | ||
Norwegian noen | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) winawake | ||
Odia (Oriya) କେହି ଜଣେ | ||
Oromo nama ta'e | ||
Pashto یو څوک | ||
Persian کسی | ||
Polish ktoś | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) alguém | ||
Punjabi ਕੋਈ | ||
Quechua pipas | ||
Romanian cineva | ||
Russian кто-то | ||
Samoan se tasi | ||
Sanskrit कश्चन | ||
Scots Gaelic cuideigin | ||
Sepedi motho yo mongwe | ||
Serbian неко | ||
Sesotho motho e mong | ||
Shona mumwe munhu | ||
Sindhi ڪو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කවුරුහරි | ||
Slovak niekto | ||
Slovenian nekdo | ||
Somali qof | ||
Spanish alguien | ||
Sundanese batur | ||
Swahili mtu | ||
Swedish någon | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) isang tao | ||
Tajik касе | ||
Tamil யாரோ | ||
Tatar кемдер | ||
Telugu ఎవరో | ||
Thai ใครบางคน | ||
Tigrinya ዝኾነ ሰብ | ||
Tsonga un'wana | ||
Turkish birisi | ||
Turkmen kimdir biri | ||
Twi (Akan) obi | ||
Ukrainian хтось | ||
Urdu کوئی | ||
Uyghur بىرەيلەن | ||
Uzbek kimdir | ||
Vietnamese có ai | ||
Welsh rhywun | ||
Xhosa umntu othile | ||
Yiddish עמעצער | ||
Yoruba ẹnikan | ||
Zulu umuntu othile |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "iemand" is derived from the Dutch word "iemand", meaning "somebody", and is also used in Yiddish and Frisian. |
| Albanian | The word "dikush" is often combined with other words like "-ri" or "-do" to form other meaningful terms. |
| Amharic | The word "አንድ ሰው" is derived from "አንድ" (one) and "ሰው" (person), and can also refer to "anyone" or "a certain person." |
| Arabic | The word "شخص ما" has two possible etymologies: one suggesting a derivation from the root "ش ص م" meaning "to gather" and another suggesting a derivation from the root "ش خ ص" meaning "to shape" or "to form". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "kimsə" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "kas" which means "someone" or "a person". It can also refer to an indefinite or unknown person. |
| Basque | The word norbait derives from the Basque words nor (“who”) and bait (“thing”), therefore can also mean “what”. |
| Belarusian | "Хто-небудзь" is a compound word that means "someone" or "anybody" in Belarusian. It is composed of the words "хто" ("who") and "небудзь". The word "небудзь" is a negative particle and it means "not" or "no". Therefore, the compound word "хто-небудзь" means "not someone" or "not anybody", which is equivalent to "someone" or "anybody". |
| Bengali | It also refers to a third person in indirect speech in Bengali i.e. 'somebody' |
| Bosnian | Neko originates from the word 'nekad' with a prefix -o-. Nekad originally has 'at some period' as well as 'one day' as possible translations. |
| Bulgarian | "Някой" originally comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "нѣкто" and can also refer to "a certain" or "some". In some dialects it can also mean "not somebody." |
| Catalan | In the Middle Ages, "algú" in Catalan could be used in the sense of "someone" or "anybody". |
| Cebuano | The word "usa ka tawo" can also refer to a person of importance or a person of authority. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 有人 in Chinese can also appear as 有人焉 or 有人兮, with slightly different connotations depending on context. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character "有人" is composed of two radicals: "人" (person) and "有" (to have), and it can also mean "to exist" or "to be present." |
| Corsican | The word "qualchissia" comes from the Latin "qualisquis", meaning "whoever" or "whomever", and can also refer to "everyone" or "all". |
| Croatian | The word "netko" in Croatian is a derivative of the Proto-Slavic word "нѣкто" (někto), meaning "someone" or "a person". |
| Czech | The word "někdo" can also mean "someone", "some people", or "a person". |
| Danish | "En eller anden" literally means "one or another" and can also mean "anybody" or "anyone." |
| Dutch | "Iemand" comes from the Old Dutch words "*ēn*" (one) and "*man*" (man). |
| Esperanto | The word 'iu' can also refer to a person who is about to be mentioned by name or who is well-known. |
| Estonian | The word "keegi" in Estonian originates from the Proto-Finnic word "*kegi" meaning "who", and can also be used in the sense of "one" or "someone". |
| Finnish | The word "joku" likely comes from the Proto-Finnic *joku, meaning "some" or "a certain". |
| French | The French word « quelqu’un » can also mean « a person of importance » or « person of quality ». |
| Frisian | The word "immen" can also mean "human" or "person" in Frisian. |
| Galician | "Alguén", meaning "somebody" in Galician, originates from "algún"+"un". "Algún", in Medieval Spanish, meant "any" and "un" meant the indefinite masculine article, equivalent to English "a". |
| Georgian | The word ვიღაც is sometimes used figuratively in Georgian, meaning someone unspecified or unknown. |
| German | "Jemanden" (somebody) derives from Middle High German "ieman" (nobody), and its meaning reversed over time from the 15th century onwards due to linguistic change. |
| Greek | The Greek word κάποιος ('somebody') is thought to derive from a compound of the preposition κατά and the noun οἶκος ('house'). This suggests an original meaning of 'one who belongs to a house' or 'one who is a household member'. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "કોઈકને" can also mean "someone" or "some people". |
| Haitian Creole | The term "yon moun" has its roots in both the French "quelqu'un" and the English "someone". |
| Hausa | Hausa 'wani' (somebody), derives from the Hausa word 'wani' (a certain one). |
| Hawaiian | The word "kekahi" also means "a few" or "some" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "מִישֶׁהוּ" can also mean "someone who is not present" or "an unknown person." |
| Hindi | The word "कोई" can also mean "any" or "some" in Hindi. |
| Hmong | The "lb" part can also stand alone and refers to a "person", a human being. |
| Hungarian | The word "valaki" likely derives from the Proto-Finnic verb *wole- (“to exist”) and the possessive suffix -ki (“one’s own”). |
| Icelandic | The term einhver, meaning "an individual," refers to a single individual who has no special significance, an unidentified entity within the context of something larger. |
| Igbo | "A" in Igbo can also mean "thing" or "it" |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "seseorang" derives from the Javanese word "sasono" meaning "room", "council hall", or "audience chamber". |
| Italian | Qualcuno derives from the phrase 'quale che uno', which means 'whichever one'. |
| Japanese | "誰か" also means "no one" in Japanese when used with double negatives. |
| Javanese | The word "piyantun" also refers to a respected or honored person, as it is derived from the word "piyantu", meaning "respected or honored person." |
| Kannada | The word "ಯಾರೋ" can also mean "someone" or "a person" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "біреу" can also refer to a particular person or an unspecified person, making it a versatile term in the Kazakh language. |
| Korean | 어떤 사람 is a conjunction that means "if someone" or "if someone is," and is not related to the English word "somebody." |
| Kurdish | "Kesek" has other meanings such as "a part of a bigger thing, a piece, a fraction, a portion," or "a unit of measure, a weight, a capacity." |
| Kyrgyz | 'Бирөө' may also mean 'a certain', 'a person', 'someone', 'anybody', 'whoever', 'whomever', or 'no matter who'. |
| Lao | ບາງຄົນ (บางคน) comes from the Thai word meaning 'some people', and can also refer to 'a few people' in Lao. |
| Latin | The Latin word "quis" can also mean "who" or "what" in interrogative sentences. |
| Latvian | Latvian "kāds" means "somebody" but it can also mean "someone" with a negative connotation of a suspicious person, or someone unknown. |
| Lithuanian | The word "kažkas" has an alternative meaning, "a certain one", and is used to indicate a person whose identity remains unspecified. |
| Luxembourgish | The etymological root of "iergendeen" is "eenich", which means "any". It can also be used as a pronoun meaning "one" or "someone". |
| Macedonian | The word "некој" comes from the same root as the noun "некаде" (somewhere), indicating a generalized or unspecified location. |
| Malagasy | "Olona" (somebody) may also mean 'human being', 'person' or 'individual'. |
| Malay | The word "seseorang" is derived from "seorang" (one person) and "orang" (person). |
| Malayalam | The word "ഏതോഒരാള്" (somebody) in Malayalam can also mean "anyone" or "someone". |
| Maltese | Xi in xi ħadd is derived from Arabic shay which means "something", or "a certain". |
| Maori | The Maori word 'tangata' can also refer to 'humanity' or 'people'. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "कुणीतरी" (pronounced "koo-nee-tuh-ree") is a contraction of "कोणताही" ("any") and "तरी" ("however"), conveying a sense of indeterminacy or anonymity. |
| Mongolian | The word |
| Nepali | कोही is derived from the Sanskrit word 'काचित्' ('sometime') and is also used in the sense of 'occasionally' or 'once in a while'. |
| Norwegian | In Norse, “nǫkkvi”, from which “noen” derives, meant both “some” and “somebody” in a collective sense |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "winawake" can also refer to a specific person or thing, similar to the English phrase "a certain someone or something." |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "یو څوک" ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *k̂wó "who", which is also the origin of English "who". In addition to meaning "somebody", it can also mean "someone" and "anyone". |
| Persian | The Persian word 'کسی' has two alternate meanings: 'someone' and 'anybody'. |
| Polish | The word "ktoś" can also refer to an unknown or unspecified person, or to a group of people. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Alguém" can mean either "somebody" or "anyone" in Portuguese. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਕੋਈ" in Punjabi has its roots in the Prakrit "ko-i" and Sanskrit "ka-api" meaning "some" or "any". It is also used in the sense of "anyone" or "somebody" in Punjabi. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "cineva" is derived from the Latin phrase "quid nam", meaning "who now?" |
| Russian | "Кто-то" originally meant "the one who" and was often used in the context of fairy tales: "кто-то пришел" (somebody came), "жили-были старик со старухой, и был у них кто-то" (there was an old man and an old woman, and they had somebody). |
| Samoan | Tasi also means 'sea' and is sometimes used as a girl's name. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "cuideigin" can also be used to mean "keeper" or "overseer". |
| Serbian | The Serbo-Croatian word "neko" is derived from two Proto-Slavic particles "ne" and "kъ". |
| Sesotho | "Motho e mong" in Sesotho can also mean any person or human being. |
| Shona | The word "mumwe munhu" in Shona can also refer to "a certain person" or "a person of note". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "ڪو" originated from the Sanskrit word "कः" meaning "who" or "which", and is also used as a prefix in the negative form of the present progressive tense in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "කවුරුහරි" comes from the Sinhala word "කා" (who) and the Sanskrit word "उत्थार" (to raise), and literally means "one who raises (the question)" or "one who asks (the question)". |
| Slovak | The word "niekto" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic "někъto", meaning "a certain person" or "someone". |
| Slovenian | Nekdo, pronounced ne-kdo, has an alternative meaning 'not somebody,' which is a negation of 'somebody'. |
| Somali | "qof" also refers to a type of Somali traditional attire consisting of a long, loose wrap-around robe often worn with a matching turban. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "alguien" comes from the Arabic word "al-ghayb", meaning "the unknown" or "the unseen". |
| Sundanese | The word “batur” in Sundanese can also mean one's friend, or in a feudal context, somebody of lower rank. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "mtu" can also refer to a person, an individual, a human being, or an agent. |
| Swedish | In the past, 'någon' was used to refer to female or genderless entities, while 'någor' referred exclusively to male entities. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Isang tao" literally translates to "one person" in Tagalog, emphasizing the individuality of the person referred to. |
| Tajik | The word “касе” derives from the Persian word “kasi” (کسی), meaning “an individual”. |
| Tamil | The word "யாரோ" can also refer to "someone who is unknown or unspecified". |
| Telugu | The word "ఎవరో" can also be used to refer to someone in a general or non-specific way. |
| Thai | The word “ใครบางคน” (“somebody”) can also mean a specific person, or an unknown person. |
| Turkish | "Birisi" can also be used to refer to a group of people, similar in meaning and etymology to "birileri" |
| Ukrainian | "Хтось" is derived from the Proto-Slavic *kъtь, meaning "who" or "somebody". |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "کوئی" can also mean "none" or "not any" and is often used in negative statements. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "kimdir" is derived from the Persian word "key mord" meaning "what does it mean?" or "who is it?". |
| Vietnamese | The word "có ai" in Vietnamese is a compound word, consisting of the verb "có" (to have) and the interrogative pronoun "ai" (who). |
| Welsh | The word 'rhywun' is formed from the words 'rhyw' (some) and 'un' (a) and can also mean 'a person of a particular kind' or 'somebody of any sort'. |
| Xhosa | "Umntu othile" can mean "a certain person" or "a human being or individual" |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word עמעצער "somebody" is often used to refer to an unnamed person or stranger, similar to the English "someone", "somebody", or "someone or other". |
| Yoruba | "Ẹnikàn" can also mean "a person" or "an individual" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | "umuntu othile" is a Zulu phrase meaning "somebody". It is used as a filler and a placeholder when the speaker cannot remember or does not know the specific name of the person they are referring to. It can also be used to refer to an unknown or unnamed person. |
| English | The word "somebody" originated from the Old English "sum bodi," meaning "some body" or "a certain individual." |