Something in Different Languages
Discover 'Something' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Something
Afrikaans iets | ||
Albanian diçka | ||
Amharic አንድ ነገር | ||
Arabic شيئا ما | ||
Armenian ինչ - որ բան | ||
Assamese কিবা এটা | ||
Aymara kunsa | ||
Azerbaijani bir şey | ||
Bambara fɛn dɔ | ||
Basque zerbait | ||
Belarusian нешта | ||
Bengali কিছু | ||
Bhojpuri कवनो चीजु | ||
Bosnian nešto | ||
Bulgarian нещо | ||
Catalan alguna cosa | ||
Cebuano usa ka butang | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 某事 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 某事 | ||
Corsican qualcosa | ||
Croatian nešto | ||
Czech něco | ||
Danish noget | ||
Dhivehi ކޮންމެވެސް އެއްޗެއް | ||
Dogri किश | ||
Dutch iets | ||
English something | ||
Esperanto io | ||
Estonian midagi | ||
Ewe nane | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) isang bagay | ||
Finnish jotain | ||
French quelque chose | ||
Frisian eat | ||
Galician algo | ||
Georgian რაღაც | ||
German etwas | ||
Greek κάτι | ||
Guarani mba'e | ||
Gujarati કંઈક | ||
Haitian Creole yon bagay | ||
Hausa wani abu | ||
Hawaiian kekahi mea | ||
Hebrew משהו | ||
Hindi कुछ कुछ | ||
Hmong ib yam dab tsi | ||
Hungarian valami | ||
Icelandic eitthvað | ||
Igbo ihe | ||
Ilocano maysa a banag | ||
Indonesian sesuatu | ||
Irish rud éigin | ||
Italian qualcosa | ||
Japanese 何か | ||
Javanese mergo | ||
Kannada ಏನೋ | ||
Kazakh бірдеңе | ||
Khmer អ្វីមួយ | ||
Kinyarwanda ikintu | ||
Konkani किदेंतरी | ||
Korean 어떤 것 | ||
Krio sɔntin | ||
Kurdish tiştek | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) شتێک | ||
Kyrgyz бир нерсе | ||
Lao ບາງສິ່ງບາງຢ່າງ | ||
Latin aliquid | ||
Latvian kaut ko | ||
Lingala eloko moko | ||
Lithuanian kažkas | ||
Luganda ekintu ekimu | ||
Luxembourgish eppes | ||
Macedonian нешто | ||
Maithili किछु | ||
Malagasy misy zavatra | ||
Malay sesuatu | ||
Malayalam എന്തോ | ||
Maltese xi ħaġa | ||
Maori tetahi mea | ||
Marathi काहीतरी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯀꯔꯤꯒꯨꯝꯕ ꯑꯃ | ||
Mizo engemaw | ||
Mongolian ямар нэг зүйл | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) တစ်ခုခု | ||
Nepali केहि | ||
Norwegian noe | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) china | ||
Odia (Oriya) କିଛି | ||
Oromo waanta ta'e | ||
Pashto یو څه | ||
Persian چیزی | ||
Polish coś | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) alguma coisa | ||
Punjabi ਕੁਝ | ||
Quechua imapas | ||
Romanian ceva | ||
Russian что нибудь | ||
Samoan se mea | ||
Sanskrit किञ्चित् | ||
Scots Gaelic rudeigin | ||
Sepedi se sengwe | ||
Serbian нешто | ||
Sesotho ho hong | ||
Shona chimwe chinhu | ||
Sindhi ڪجھ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) යමක් | ||
Slovak niečo | ||
Slovenian nekaj | ||
Somali wax | ||
Spanish alguna cosa | ||
Sundanese kitu | ||
Swahili kitu | ||
Swedish något | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) may kung ano | ||
Tajik чизе | ||
Tamil ஏதோ | ||
Tatar нәрсәдер | ||
Telugu ఏదో | ||
Thai บางอย่าง | ||
Tigrinya ዝኾነ ነገር | ||
Tsonga xin'wana | ||
Turkish bir şey | ||
Turkmen bir zat | ||
Twi (Akan) biribi | ||
Ukrainian щось | ||
Urdu کچھ | ||
Uyghur مەلۇم بىر نەرسە | ||
Uzbek nimadur | ||
Vietnamese cái gì đó | ||
Welsh rhywbeth | ||
Xhosa into ethile | ||
Yiddish עפּעס | ||
Yoruba nkankan | ||
Zulu okuthile |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Iets" is derived from the Dutch word "iets" meaning "something". In Afrikaans, "iets" can also refer to a "small amount" or "a little bit" of something. |
| Albanian | "Diçka" is the word for "something" and comes from the Proto-Indo-European root “di-” meaning "two" (in Albanian it's "dy"), so literally it means "something two". |
| Amharic | The word "አንድ ነገር" can also mean "a thing" or "an object" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | شيئا ما is a contraction of شيئا من which is a combination of the indefinite article شي and the preposition من meaning "of" or "from". It therefore literally means "a thing of". |
| Armenian | The word "ինչ-որ բան" is used in Armenian to indicate an indefinite quantity or amount, as well as to express a sense of uncertainty or disbelief. |
| Azerbaijani | bir sözü ifade etmediğinde, bir şey ya da her şey anlamına gelen sözcük "bir şey" |
| Basque | The word "zerbait" also has the additional meanings of "anything" and "someone" in Basque. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "нешта" is cognate with the Ukrainian word "щось" and the Russian word "что-то". All three words are derived from the Proto-Slavic word *čьto, which also meant "something". |
| Bengali | "কিছু" is also used as an interrogative pronoun, meaning "what" or "which", and as a possessive pronoun, meaning "one's" or "someone's." |
| Bosnian | There is a theory that 'nešto' derives from 'ne-što', which means 'not-nothing', suggesting that 'something' is the opposite of nothingness. |
| Bulgarian | The word "нещо" in Bulgarian can also refer to an object or a thing, although its most common meaning is "something." |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "alguna cosa" literally means "some thing" or "some matter". |
| Cebuano | The word "usa ka butang" can also mean "an object" or "a thing". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "某事" can also refer to a certain matter or affair. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | **某事** in Traditional Chinese is also used as a placeholder for an unknown person or thing, similar to "某某" or "某人". |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "qualcosa" is derived from the Italian word "qualche cosa", meaning "some thing". |
| Croatian | The term "nešto" is an indeterminate pronoun meaning "a thing," while "ništa" means "nothing," but in colloquial contexts, the two can overlap, e.g.: "I have something for you" can be rendered as "Imam nešto za tebe" and as "Imam ništa za tebe," the latter being closer to "I have a little something for you." |
| Czech | The word "něco" can also mean "a little bit" or "a few". |
| Danish | "Noget" derives from Old Norse "nǫkkvið" meaning "something", also related to "nogle" (some) and "nok" (enough). |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "iets" derives from the Old Saxon word "et-hwas" meaning "a little bit", which is still reflected in the diminutive form "ietsje". |
| Esperanto | The Latin term "id est" was contracted to its first and last two letters "io" before entering Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The word "midagi" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*mijjä" meaning "anything" or "something", and is also related to the Finnish word "mitä" meaning "what". |
| Finnish | The word "jotain" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *jokā, which also means "someone" or "anyone". |
| French | The French word 'quelque chose' originally meant 'what thing' but gradually shifted to mean 'something'. |
| Frisian | It is also used to express possession and as a pronoun in its own right. |
| Galician | The word “algo” is derived from the Latin word “aliquid”, meaning “something”. |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "რაღაც" can also refer to a person of low character. |
| German | In German, 'etwas' means 'something' but can also refer to a small amount of something or an unspecified quantity. |
| Greek | The Greek word “κάτι” not only means “something,” but also “a little” or “a bit.” |
| Gujarati | "કંઈક" (something), from Prakrit "kaṃki" which means "nothing", has an emphatic prefix "ક" (ka) added to it, meaning "something". |
| Haitian Creole | Haitian Creole "yon bagay" (lit. "one thing") can also refer to a specific, unidentified entity like English "thingamajig". |
| Hausa | Wani abu can also mean 'property', 'possessions', or 'belongings' |
| Hawaiian | Kekahi mea is also a type of sea cucumber in Hawaii, where it is used in various dishes. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "משהו" (pronounced "mashehu") may derive from the Arabic word "شيء" (`shay`) meaning "thing". The first known use of "משהו" in Hebrew texts dates back to 1200, about 100 years after the Arab conquest of Palestine. |
| Hindi | The word "कुछ कुछ" can also be used to describe "more or less" or "to a certain extent" in Hindi. |
| Hmong | In Hmong, "ib yam dab tsi" is derived from "ib yam dab" ("a few") followed by "tsi" (classifier for abstract things). |
| Hungarian | Valami ('something') is cognate with Latin 'aliquem' ('anybody') but it is also used as an indefinite pronoun meaning 'some'. |
| Icelandic | The word "eitthvað" is derived from the Old Norse words "ei" (not) and "hvað" (what), meaning "not something" or "nothing". |
| Igbo | The word "ihe" in Igbo can also mean "thing," "object," or "matter." |
| Indonesian | The word "sesuatu" in Indonesian has a root meaning of "to be" and can also mean "essence" or "substance". |
| Irish | "Rud éigin" is the Irish for "something," but literally means "some-thing" with the "thing" being unspecified in either singular or plural. |
| Italian | "Qualcosa" is the Italian equivalent of "something" and literally means "what thing" |
| Japanese | Although something (何か) literally means "what" (何) + "thing" (-か), it doesn't mean "anything" (何んでも, なんでも), unlike "something" (something) does in English. |
| Javanese | "Mergo" in Javanese also means "because" or "the reason why". |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಏನೋ" can also be used to mean "maybe" or "perhaps" in some contexts. |
| Kazakh | The word "бірдеңе" in Kazakh originates from the Persian "bir" (one) and "dān" (grain), implying a small amount or an unspecified quantity. |
| Khmer | The word "អ្វីមួយ" can also mean "anything" or "a little bit" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The Korean word "어떤 것" can also mean "a certain thing" or "anything". |
| Kurdish | The word "tiştek" originates from the old Kurdish word "tiş" which means "something unknown" or "hidden". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "бир нерсе" (something) is also used to indicate an indeterminate quantity. |
| Latin | Aliquid is cognate with the English “elsewhat” and the Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos), meaning "other." |
| Latvian | Kaut ko may also mean "somehow" or "anything". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "kažkas" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷo-, meaning "who" or "what". |
| Luxembourgish | "Eppes" is cognate with the German word "etwas," which derives from the Proto-Germanic root "*aþ-." |
| Macedonian | "Нешто" is a cognate of the Latin word "nescio" which means "I don't know" or "I am uncertain". |
| Malagasy | The phrase misy zavatra can also mean "there is something" or "there is a problem". |
| Malay | The word "sesuatu" is derived from the root word "suatu" which means "one" or "a certain". |
| Malayalam | The word "എന്തോ" in Malayalam is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *in-to, meaning "something". Alternatively, it can also mean "why" in certain contexts. |
| Maltese | The word 'xi ħaġa' can also mean 'something of little importance' or 'a trifle'. |
| Maori | The word "tetahi mea" can also mean "a little bit" or "a few". |
| Marathi | The word "काहीतरी" in Marathi is derived from the Sanskrit word "किमचित्", which means "a little bit" or "some amount." |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The term "တစ်ခုခု" can also refer to "any" (as in "any person you know") or "some" (as in "take some coffee"). |
| Nepali | "केहि" ultimately came from the Middle Indo-Aryan "kiahi" meaning "a little" |
| Norwegian | The word "noe" can also mean "now" or "the present moment" in Norwegian. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "China" in Nyanja can also mean "China the country" or "porcelain". |
| Pashto | 'یو څه' literally means 'one thing'. It can also refer to an unspecified or indefinite amount or quantity. |
| Persian | "چیزی" also means "thing" in Persian, which comes from "چیز" meaning "kind, type," hence "چیزی" is "a kind of thing" or "a thing of its kind" |
| Polish | The word "coś" in Polish can also mean "a bit" or "a little bit". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Brazilian Portuguese, "alguma coisa" can also refer to "a bit" or "a little" of something, while in Portugal it can mean "anything". |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਕੁਝ" is derived from the Persian word "چيز" meaning "thing, object, or some"} |
| Romanian | "Ceva" is also used informally to mean "a little bit" and as the name of a Romanian folk dance. |
| Russian | The word "что нибудь" in Russian is derived from the interrogative pronoun "что" (what) and the indefinite pronoun "нибудь" (some). |
| Samoan | In some contexts, 'se mea' can also mean 'a person' or 'a thing'. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word for "something" in Scots Gaelic, "rudeigin," is of obscure origin, and in the modern spoken language the word for "thing" (`ni`) often replaces it. |
| Serbian | The word "нешто" can also refer to an uncertain or indefinite quantity or quality. |
| Sesotho | The word "ho hong" can also mean "there is something" or "there is someone". |
| Shona | "Chimwe chinhu" can also mean "a thing", "an object", "a matter", or "an issue". |
| Sindhi | In Sindhi, the word "ڪجھ" can also mean "some" or "a few". It is related to the Gujarati word "કંઇ". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | "යමක්" can refer to an indefinite quantity of an item in addition to meaning "something". |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "niečo" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *ne-kъto, meaning "nothing" or "a little". |
| Slovenian | In the Prekmurje dialect, "nekaj" also means "a few" |
| Somali | "Wax" in Somali (wax) can also refer to a type of traditional cloth, often used in making garments or wrapping gifts. |
| Spanish | Although "alguna cosa" literally translates to "some thing" in English, it typically refers to an unspecified or unknown item. |
| Sundanese | The word "kitu" also has the alternate meaning of "affair" in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | "Kitu" means "thing" in Swahili, but can also refer to an event, action, or concept. |
| Swedish | The Swedish word for "something," "något," is also the contraction of two old Norse words which meant "near-what-was" (or "nearby"), with the "-t" denoting neuter gender. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | 'May kung ano' is used to emphasize the existence of something and to express uncertainty about its specific nature. |
| Tajik | Tajik 'чизе' has possible connections to the Sogdian word 'čyz' ('part', 'bit', 'piece') or the Persian word 'čiz' ('thing'). |
| Tamil | ஏதோ' means 'something' but can also describe an amount as small, insignificant, or less than expected. |
| Telugu | The word "ఏదో" (pronounced "edho") can also mean "somehow" or "in some way" in Telugu. |
| Thai | บางอย่าง is derived from the Proto-Austroasiatic word *baŋ, which also means "thing" or "object". |
| Turkish | While the literal translation of the Turkish word "bir şey" is "one thing," it can also mean "anything" or "something in general". |
| Ukrainian | The word "щось" can also be used to mean "anything" or "something or other". |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "کچھ" (kuch) can also mean "a little", "slightly", or "a few". |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "nimadur" is not commonly used as a stand-alone word but is often part of expressions and phrases such as "nimadir" which means "what is it?" |
| Vietnamese | The word "cái gì đó" can also be used to refer to an unspecified amount of something. |
| Welsh | The word "rhywbeth" also means "a few", "several" or "some" in Welsh. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "into ethile" can also mean "a small amount" or "a little bit" of something. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "עפּעס" (epes) comes from the German "etwas" (something) and can also mean "maybe" or "a little bit". |
| Yoruba | The word nkankan in Yoruba can also mean "matter" or "issue". |
| Zulu | "Okuthile" is also used to refer to a concept or idea in Zulu. |
| English | The etymology of "something" can be traced back to Old English "sum þing", and it originally meant "a portion" or "a part of a whole". |