Someone in Different Languages
Discover 'Someone' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Someone
Afrikaans iemand | ||
Albanian dikush | ||
Amharic አንድ ሰው | ||
Arabic شخصا ما | ||
Armenian ինչ-որ մեկը | ||
Assamese কোনোবা এজনে | ||
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) 某人 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 某人 | ||
Corsican qualchissia | ||
Croatian nekoga | ||
Czech někdo | ||
Danish nogen | ||
Dhivehi ކޮންމެވެސް މީހަކު | ||
Dogri कोई | ||
Dutch iemand | ||
English someone | ||
Esperanto iu | ||
Estonian keegi | ||
Ewe ame aɖe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) isang tao | ||
Finnish joku | ||
French quelqu'un | ||
Frisian immen | ||
Galician alguén | ||
Georgian ვინმე | ||
German jemand | ||
Greek κάποιος | ||
Guarani máva | ||
Gujarati કોઈ | ||
Haitian Creole yon moun | ||
Hausa wani | ||
Hawaiian kekahi | ||
Hebrew מִישֶׁהוּ | ||
Hindi कोई व्यक्ति | ||
Hmong ib tug neeg | ||
Hungarian valaki | ||
Icelandic einhver | ||
Igbo onye | ||
Ilocano maysa a tao | ||
Indonesian some one | ||
Irish duine éigin | ||
Italian qualcuno | ||
Japanese 誰か | ||
Javanese wong liya | ||
Kannada ಯಾರಾದರೂ | ||
Kazakh біреу | ||
Khmer អ្នកណាម្នាក់ | ||
Kinyarwanda umuntu | ||
Konkani कोणतरी | ||
Korean 어떤 사람 | ||
Krio sɔmbɔdi | ||
Kurdish kesek | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کەسێک | ||
Kyrgyz бирөө | ||
Lao ຄົນ | ||
Latin aliquis | ||
Latvian kāds | ||
Lingala moto moko | ||
Lithuanian kažkas | ||
Luganda waliwo omuntu | ||
Luxembourgish een | ||
Macedonian некој | ||
Maithili कियो | ||
Malagasy olona | ||
Malay seseorang | ||
Malayalam ആരെങ്കിലും | ||
Maltese xi ħadd | ||
Maori tangata | ||
Marathi कोणीतरी | ||
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 कश्चित् | ||
Scots Gaelic cuideigin | ||
Sepedi motho yo mongwe | ||
Serbian некога | ||
Sesotho motho emong | ||
Shona mumwe munhu | ||
Sindhi ڪو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කවුරුහරි | ||
Slovak niekoho | ||
Slovenian nekdo | ||
Somali qof | ||
Spanish alguien | ||
Sundanese batur | ||
Swahili mtu | ||
Swedish någon | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kahit sino | ||
Tajik касе | ||
Tamil யாரோ | ||
Tatar кемдер | ||
Telugu ఎవరైనా | ||
Thai บางคน | ||
Tigrinya ሓደ ሰብ | ||
Tsonga un'wana | ||
Turkish birisi | ||
Turkmen kimdir biri | ||
Twi (Akan) obi | ||
Ukrainian когось | ||
Urdu کسی | ||
Uyghur بىرەيلەن | ||
Uzbek kimdir | ||
Vietnamese người nào | ||
Welsh rhywun | ||
Xhosa umntu othile | ||
Yiddish עמעצער | ||
Yoruba ẹnikan | ||
Zulu othile |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "iemand" ('someone') derives from the Dutch word "iemand," which in turn originates from the Old High German word "einiman," meaning 'a person' or 'an individual'. |
| Albanian | The word “dikush” derives from the Latin “quisque,” meaning “each” or “any. |
| Amharic | The Amharic word "አንድ ሰው" ("someone") can also refer to an anonymous individual or group of individuals, often when discussing unknown or unspecified actors. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "someone" can also refer to a human being in general or to an unidentified or indeterminate person, similar to the English "anybody" or "someone". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "kimsə" is derived from the Persian word "kas" meaning "person". |
| Basque | "Norbait" is a portmanteau of "nor" (who) and "bait" (some), and can also be used as a question word. |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "কেউ" ("someone") is also used to mean "anyone" or "nobody" in certain contexts. |
| Bosnian | Bosnian "neko" is used when referring to a person, but is also the diminutive for "child". |
| Bulgarian | The etymology of "някой" is unknown, but it is thought to be related to the Old Church Slavonic word "нѣкто" meaning "no one". |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "algú" ultimately derives from the Latin word "aliquis", meaning "a certain person". |
| Cebuano | "Usa ka tawo" can also mean "a certain person" or "one person". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 某人 can also refer to a specific person whose name is unknown or intentionally concealed. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 某人, "a certain person or thing", as an indefinite pronoun, is derived from the term "某" that means "a certain" and "人" that means "a person or thing." |
| Corsican | The word "qualchissia" has a Latin origin, meaning "some" or "any." |
| Croatian | The word "nekoga" in Croatian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "ne kotoryj", meaning "not any". |
| Czech | The word "někdo" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *někъto, which also means "someone else" or "some other thing." |
| Danish | The word "nogen" also means "enough" in Danish, a meaning shared with the related German word "genug". |
| Dutch | Dutch word “iemand” derives from “niemand” (nobody) and used to mean “not nobody”. |
| Esperanto | The word "iu" is derived from the Latin "ego" and can also mean "I" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The word "keegi" is also used in Estonian as an indefinite pronoun meaning "anybody" or "some person" |
| Finnish | The word "joku" is related to the word "jokin" ("something") and the suffix "-kin/-kän", used to form indefinite pronouns. |
| French | Quelqu’un derives from the Latin word ‘qualicunque’ meaning ‘of whatever kind’ and is related to ‘quelque’ (some). |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "immen" likely derives from Proto-Germanic *immijaz, meaning "someone" or "someone there". |
| Galician | The word "alguén" in Galician can also refer to an unknown or indeterminate person that is about to take an action. |
| Georgian | The word "ვინმე" can also mean "a certain person", "somebody", "anyone", or "an individual". |
| German | In German, "jemand" can also mean "a person" or "an individual". |
| Greek | The term 'κάποιος' has an alternate meaning of 'vague' or 'indefinite', indicating an unspecified person. |
| Gujarati | The word "કોઈ" in Gujarati, originally derived from Prakrit "kovi", cognate with Sanskrit "ko api", ultimately derives from Indo-Aryan "ka" meaning "who". |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, "yon moun" can also refer to a stranger or someone that you don't know well, while "yon moun konesans" means an acquaintance or someone that you know but not well. |
| Hausa | The word “wani” can also mean “a thing” or “an unknown person” |
| Hawaiian | The word "kekahi" can also mean "some", "a few", or "several" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The word "מִישֶׁהוּ" can also mean "a certain person" or "a person of importance." |
| Hindi | The word 'कोई व्यक्ति' can also mean 'any person', indicating an unidentified or unspecified individual. |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "ib tug neeg" can also refer to a specific person or people. |
| Hungarian | "Valaki" was originally the name of a male deity of love and beauty in Hungarian mythology. |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, einhver can also mean "one of many" or "an unspecified person". |
| Igbo | The word "onye" can also mean "a person" or "an individual". |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian term "seseorang" (someone) derives from the Javanese phrase "sapa-sapa wani" (anybody willing), signifying inclusivity and a sense of choice. |
| Italian | The word "qualcuno" comes from the Latin word "qualicumque," meaning "of whatever kind". |
| Japanese | "誰か" (dareka) literally means "who and someone" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | "Wong liya" also means "other people or group". |
| Kannada | Its usage as a substitute for 'whoever' is considered substandard |
| Kazakh | The word "біреу" in Kazakh also means "a certain person" or "an individual". |
| Korean | The word "어떤 사람" can also mean "a certain person" or "a particular person". |
| Kurdish | The word "kesek" can also refer to "a person", "a human being", or someone with a specific identity or role in society. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word “бирөө” can also refer to a deity, but in this context, it is typically used in the plural to mean “gods”. |
| Lao | In Lao, "ຄົນ" means not only "someone" but also "person," "human being," "man," "woman," "husband," "wife," or "child." |
| Latin | In Late Latin, "aliquis" came to be used in law to refer to an unidentified person and was also used in Medieval Latin to mean "whoever". |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "kāds" has the same root as the Lithuanian word "koks" and the Old Prussian word "kas", all meaning "who". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "kažkas" is a compound word composed of "kaž-," meaning "someone," and the suffix "-kas," a possessive suffix, giving it a sense of "one of many" or "someone in particular." |
| Luxembourgish | The word "een" can also be used as a pronoun meaning "it" or "this." |
| Macedonian | The word "некој" in Macedonian also has the alternate meaning of "anybody" or "someone important". |
| Malagasy | "Olona" comes from a Proto-Austronesian word for "person" or "human being", with cognates in many other Austronesian languages, such as "ulun" in Tagalog and "ulun" in Indonesian. |
| Malay | The original meaning of "seseorang" in Malay is "one that does something" or "one who works on something", like in "seorang tukang kayu" ("carpenter"). |
| Malayalam | The word "ആരെങ്കിലും" ("someone") in Malayalam also means "whoever" when used in a negative sense. |
| Maltese | The term "xi ħadd" literally translates to "a nobody", but it is commonly used to refer to a non-specific individual. |
| Maori | In other Polynesian languages, **tangata** also means human being, and it is cognate to the word **kanaka** in Hawaiian. |
| Marathi | While "कोणीतरी" literally means "any of many" in Marathi, it can also be used as "someone" in English. |
| Mongolian | "Хэн нэгэн" can mean "who" or "whoever" when used in a question. |
| Nepali | The word "कोही" is derived from the Sanskrit word "किमपि" (kimpi), meaning "any" or "some" |
| Norwegian | "Noen" is also cognate with the English word "any", and can be used in the same way. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Winawake" can also mean "something" or be used to refer to an unspecified person or thing. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "يو څوک" is also used to refer to a stranger, or a person who is not known by the speaker. |
| Persian | The word "کسی" in Persian, although it means "someone", has the literal meaning of "cut off" or "severed" in Arabic. |
| Polish | "Ktoś" is the second person singular future tense of the Polish verb "kraść" (to steal). |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "alguém" derives from the Arabic word "al-ğayr", meaning "the other". |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਕੋਈ" also translates as "some" and can be synonymous with "any" in English, indicating an indeterminate amount or an unspecified individual. |
| Romanian | The word "cineva" is derived from the Latin word "quisque," meaning "each, each one, everyone, anybody," and has a similar meaning in Romanian. |
| Russian | The word "кто то" can also be used in the sense of "somebody" or "someone unknown" |
| Samoan | "Se tasi" is derived from "se" (a definite article) and "tasi" (ocean), hence the literal meaning is "one ocean". |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scottish Gaelic, 'cuideigin' can also refer to a familiar form of address for a young woman or girl. |
| Serbian | The word 'некога' can also mean 'for some time' or 'at some point'. |
| Sesotho | The word 'motho emong' can also refer to a specific person, usually someone who is well-known or respected. |
| Sindhi | The term 'ڪو' ('someone') may derive from Sindhi 'ڪن (kaan)' ('ear') and/or 'ڪيؤ (kiyo, kiyun)' ('who, what'). |
| Slovak | In informal Slovak, "niekoho" can also mean "no one." |
| Slovenian | The word "nekdo" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*někъto", meaning "a certain person" or "someone". |
| Somali | The word "qof" can also mean "person" or "individual" in Somali. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "alguien" (someone) comes from the Latin word "aliquis", which also means "someone" or "anyone". |
| Sundanese | 'Batur' can also mean 'friend', 'companion', or 'comrade' in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | The word 'mtu' in Swahili is derived from the Bantu root word '-tu', meaning 'person'. |
| Swedish | In the 14th century, "någon" could also mean "any" or "one". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Despite being used like an indefinite pronoun, "kahit sino" (someone) traces its roots to the Spanish word "castellano" (Castilian, the language spoken by Spanish settlers in the Philippines). |
| Tajik | The word "касе" can also mean "a certain person" or "a person in question". |
| Tamil | The word யாரோ (someone) in Tamil may also refer to a specific person in a context where the identity of the person is not clear or known. |
| Telugu | The word "ఎవరైనా" can also mean "whoever" or "anybody". |
| Thai | In some Thai idioms, "บางคน" refers to a specific person or group of people rather than an indeterminate individual. |
| Turkish | Birisi originates from the word "bir" meaning "one" in Turkish and the suffix "-isi" used to indicate possession or belonging, denoting "the one who has one of something". |
| Ukrainian | The word "когось" derives from the Old East Slavic "къто", meaning "who, which, which one." |
| Urdu | The word "کسی" can be used as a pronoun to refer to a generic person of either gender or as an adjective to mean "any" or "some". |
| Uzbek | The word "kimdir" can also be used to express "who" in indirect questions. |
| Vietnamese | "Người nào" also means "which one" or "which" depending on context. |
| Welsh | The word "rhywun" can also mean "a person of some kind" or "a certain person". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "umntu othile" also means "a certain person" or "a particular person" |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "עמעצער" can also refer to someone who is unimportant or insignificant. |
| Yoruba | Yoruba term ẹnikan means “a person,” or “one who breathes.” |
| Zulu | Othile is a Zulu word meaning 'someone', and it can also refer to a person of unknown or uncertain identity. |
| English | "Someone" comes from the Old English word "sum+" "man," meaning "one particular person". |