That in Different Languages
Discover 'That' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'that' is a small but mighty part of the English language, acting as a determiner, pronoun, and conjunction. Its significance lies in its versatility, allowing for clear and concise communication. But 'that' is not just an English phenomenon; it exists in various forms in languages around the world.
Throughout history, 'that' has played a crucial role in literature and culture. Shakespeare, for instance, used 'that' over 20,000 times in his works, demonstrating its importance in the English language. Moreover, 'that' has been the subject of linguistic studies, shedding light on its cultural significance and evolution.
Understanding the translation of 'that' in different languages can enhance your cross-cultural communication skills and deepen your appreciation for the diversity of languages. For example, in Spanish, 'that' translates to 'eso' or 'aquello,' while in German, it's 'das' or 'jenes.' In French, 'that' can be translated to 'cela' or 'ça.'
That
That in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | daardie | ||
| Afrikaans has two main words for "that": "die" and "daardie" - the latter, more emphatic form comes from the Dutch phrase "daar die" ("there that"). | |||
| Amharic | የሚል ነው | ||
| The Amharic word "የሚል ነው" can also mean "is like" or "seems like". | |||
| Hausa | cewa | ||
| The word "cewa" in Hausa can also refer to a particular type of tree. | |||
| Igbo | na | ||
| Igbo word "na" can also be used as a prefix to indicate the subject or object of a sentence. | |||
| Malagasy | fa | ||
| Malagasy "fa" is cognate to Malay "apa" (what) and Indonesian "pa" (what), suggesting a shared Proto-Austronesian origin. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kuti | ||
| The word "kuti" can also mean "because" or "so that" in Nyanja. | |||
| Shona | izvo | ||
| The Shona word "izvo" also means "the thing which" | |||
| Somali | taasi | ||
| "Taasi" is sometimes used to refer to one's mother, in which case it is typically preceded by "hooyo" ("mother"). | |||
| Sesotho | hore | ||
| In Sesotho, "hore" can also mean "this" or "there" depending on the context. | |||
| Swahili | kwamba | ||
| Kwamba is also a verbal form of the verb 'to be', indicating existence, location, or condition. | |||
| Xhosa | lonto | ||
| The word 'lonto' in Xhosa has roots in the Bantu language and is related to the Nguni term 'lokho', meaning 'that' or 'that which is there'. | |||
| Yoruba | iyẹn | ||
| The word "iyẹn" in Yoruba can also mean "it is" or "he/she is" depending on the context. | |||
| Zulu | ukuthi | ||
| Ukukhi can also mean "there" or "at that place". | |||
| Bambara | o | ||
| Ewe | nu ma | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ibyo | ||
| Lingala | oyo | ||
| Luganda | ekyo | ||
| Sepedi | gore | ||
| Twi (Akan) | a | ||
That in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | ذلك | ||
| The word "ذلك" can also mean "this" depending on context. | |||
| Hebrew | זֶה | ||
| The word "זֶה" in Hebrew can also be used as a demonstrative pronoun, meaning "this" or "these." | |||
| Pashto | هغه | ||
| The word "هغه" is an emphatic form of the demonstrative pronoun "هغه" and is used for emphasis or to indicate distance. | |||
| Arabic | ذلك | ||
| The word "ذلك" can also mean "this" depending on context. | |||
That in Western European Languages
| Albanian | se | ||
| The Albanian word "se" (that) has also been used in the sense of "so that" or "in order to" | |||
| Basque | hori | ||
| The word "hori" can also refer to a place or location. | |||
| Catalan | això | ||
| The word "això" is also used to refer to a specific thing or situation, or to emphasize a particular point. | |||
| Croatian | da | ||
| In some dialects of Croatian, "da" can also mean "because" or "so that" | |||
| Danish | at | ||
| The Danish word "at" can also mean "as" or "like" | |||
| Dutch | dat | ||
| The word "dat" in Dutch can also refer to a specific date or to a particular situation or context. | |||
| English | that | ||
| "That" can be used as a pronoun ("that is a nice car") or an adjective ("that car is nice"). | |||
| French | cette | ||
| In Old French, « cette » was used to refer to something distant or remote. | |||
| Frisian | dat | ||
| The word "dat" has other meanings as an adjective, as in "det wetter" (that weather) or an adverb, like "da liket my" (that appeals to me) | |||
| Galician | iso | ||
| In Galician, "iso" can mean either "that" or "this" | |||
| German | das | ||
| The word 'das' can also refer to an unspecified thing, similar to the English 'it'. | |||
| Icelandic | það | ||
| The word "það" also means "it" and is used in impersonal constructions. | |||
| Irish | go | ||
| In Irish, 'go' can also refer to an utterance, thought, or idea. | |||
| Italian | quello | ||
| "Quello" can mean either "that" or "that one" in Italian, depending on the context. | |||
| Luxembourgish | dat | ||
| The word "dat" in Luxembourgish can also refer to a specific date or a particular point in time. | |||
| Maltese | dak | ||
| 'Dak' can also mean 'that one' or 'that person'. | |||
| Norwegian | at | ||
| The Norwegian word "at" can have multiple meanings including "that" and "the". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | este | ||
| The Portuguese word "este" can refer to something close to the speaker or listener in both space and time. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | sin | ||
| The word "sin" in Scots Gaelic can also refer to "the weather" or "a while." | |||
| Spanish | ese | ||
| "Ese" also means "friend" among certain communities such as Chicanos, lowriders, and cholos. | |||
| Swedish | den där | ||
| In medieval Swedish the word "den" had the same meaning as today but the word "där" meant "this". | |||
| Welsh | hynny | ||
| The Welsh word 'hynny' can also mean 'what' or 'why'. | |||
That in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | што | ||
| "Што" in Belarusian can be used in a few other ways. For example, it can refer to "whilst" or "until" or even "what" in some contexts. | |||
| Bosnian | to | ||
| The word "to" in Bosnian can also mean "so" or "because". | |||
| Bulgarian | че | ||
| The Bulgarian word "че" can also mean "so that" or "in order to". | |||
| Czech | že | ||
| "že" is derived from the Proto-Slavic form "že" (a conjunction) and originally meant "for" or "because". | |||
| Estonian | seda | ||
| The word "seda" in Estonian can also mean "this" or "it", and is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "tämä". | |||
| Finnish | että | ||
| The word "että" in Finnish can also be used as a conjunction meaning "so that" or "in order to". | |||
| Hungarian | hogy | ||
| The Hungarian word "hogy” originates from the Old Turkic word "kanti" (meaning "how, that"), which is also the origin of the Finnish word "kun" (meaning "when, that"). | |||
| Latvian | to | ||
| The Latvian word “to” also means “there” in the sense of existence or location. | |||
| Lithuanian | kad | ||
| The word "kad" in Lithuanian is also used to mean "when", "if", or "as soon as". | |||
| Macedonian | тоа | ||
| The Macedonian word "тоа" can also be used to refer to a specific person or thing, similar to the English demonstrative "this" | |||
| Polish | że | ||
| "Że" is thought to be derived from Proto-Slavic "že", and can also mean "because" or "for" in Polish. | |||
| Romanian | acea | ||
| The Romanian word "acea" derives from the Latin "ecc(u)a", meaning "behold" or "there." | |||
| Russian | что | ||
| The Russian word "что" (that) is also a homonym for "what" (interrogative pronoun) and "something" (indefinite pronoun). | |||
| Serbian | то | ||
| "То" as a Serbian adverb means "then" or "at that time". | |||
| Slovak | že | ||
| In certain contexts, the Slovak language uses "že" to introduce questions as well as mark surprise: "Že neprší? (Isn't it raining?)" | |||
| Slovenian | to | ||
| The word "to" in Slovenian also means "the" when used before a noun. | |||
| Ukrainian | що | ||
| The Ukrainian word "що" can also be used to ask questions or express surprise. | |||
That in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | যে | ||
| The Bengali word "যে" can also be used as a conjunction meaning "so that" or a relative pronoun meaning "who". | |||
| Gujarati | કે | ||
| The word "કે" (ke) in Gujarati can also mean "but" or "because". | |||
| Hindi | उस | ||
| "उस" can also be a pronoun meaning "he" or "she" and is often used when a particular person is not specified or is unclear. | |||
| Kannada | ಅದು | ||
| Though 'ಅದು (adu)' primarily means 'that' in Kannada, it also signifies 'a person' or 'a thing' that is pointed out by a gesture. | |||
| Malayalam | അത് | ||
| The Malayalam word "അത്" can also refer to "it" or "this" depending on context. | |||
| Marathi | ते | ||
| "ते" (te) in Marathi can refer to the definite article "the" or a possessive pronoun meaning "his, her, or their". | |||
| Nepali | त्यो | ||
| "त्यो" also means "that which you have just said" or "that which you are referring to". | |||
| Punjabi | ਕਿ | ||
| In certain contexts, 'ਕਿ' ('ki') in Punjabi can mean 'because', 'for' or 'in order to'. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ඒ | ||
| The Sinhala word “ඒ” comes from Proto-Dravidian *atu- 'that distant' and Proto-Sinhalese *atu 'distant'. | |||
| Tamil | அந்த | ||
| அந்த is often used before names to signify respect or endearment. | |||
| Telugu | అది | ||
| The word "అది" can also be used to refer to a general topic or argument. | |||
| Urdu | کہ | ||
| The Urdu word "کہ" ("that") can also mean "because" or "so that". | |||
That in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 那 | ||
| "那" can refer to a place, such as 'that place,' or a time, such as 'that year.' | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 那 | ||
| In addition to meaning 'that', 那 can also mean 'there', 'then', or 'to'. | |||
| Japanese | それ | ||
| The Japanese word "それ" can also refer to a subject or topic under discussion | |||
| Korean | 그 | ||
| Korean 그 corresponds to English “that,” “which,” “who,” and “whom,” depending on context. | |||
| Mongolian | тэр | ||
| The word "тэр" can also refer to a specific time or place. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | သော | ||
| The word "သော" also means "as well as" or "too". | |||
That in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | bahwa | ||
| The word "bahwa" can also be used to introduce a new topic or idea. | |||
| Javanese | sing | ||
| In Javanese, "sing" can also mean "that". | |||
| Khmer | នោះ | ||
| The Khmer word "នោះ" can be derived from the Old Khmer word "៝ន" or the Pali word "តនុ". | |||
| Lao | ນັ້ນ | ||
| The word "ນັ້ນ" can also be used as a demonstrative pronoun, meaning "that one" or "the one over there." | |||
| Malay | itu | ||
| The word 'itu' in Malay can have a deictic meaning ('that') or refer to something mentioned earlier in a conversation ('the one'). | |||
| Thai | ที่ | ||
| Thai word "ที่" (that) derives from the Chinese word "地" and can mean "place", "land", "position", "status", or "condition" | |||
| Vietnamese | cái đó | ||
| The word "cái đó" can also refer to a specific body part in Vietnamese. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | na | ||
That in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | ki | ||
| In the compound word "bunların ki" the word "ki" means "the ones that belong to them". | |||
| Kazakh | бұл | ||
| Бұл, Kazakh for "that," is also used as a particle that emphasizes a noun's definiteness. | |||
| Kyrgyz | деп | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "деп" also means "until" or "up to". | |||
| Tajik | ки | ||
| The Tajik word "ки" can also mean "until" or "as far as" in some contexts. | |||
| Turkmen | bu | ||
| Uzbek | bu | ||
| The Uzbek word "bu" can also refer to the third person pronoun "he" or "she"} | |||
| Uyghur | that | ||
That in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kēlā | ||
| The Hawaiian word "kēlā" also means "the other one", "the former of two", or "the absent one". | |||
| Maori | e | ||
| Maori word “e” can also be used to indicate a state or an indefinite object or person, or to mark an exclamation; such usage often occurs with a verb, which may or may not be part of an equation. | |||
| Samoan | lena | ||
| While lena usually means "that," it can also mean the demonstrative pronoun "this" in some regions of Samoa. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | yan | ||
| The word "yan" also means "there" and can be used to indicate a location or direction. | |||
That in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | kuna | ||
| Guarani | péva | ||
That in International Languages
| Esperanto | tio | ||
| "Tio" is also an alternate spelling of the Esperanto word "tio" meaning "uncle". | |||
| Latin | quod | ||
| In Latin, 'quod' means not only 'that' but also 'because' and 'why'. | |||
That in Others Languages
| Greek | ότι | ||
| The Greek word "ότι" can also mean "because" or "since". | |||
| Hmong | uas | ||
| The word "uas" can also mean "very" or "extremely". | |||
| Kurdish | va | ||
| The word "va" in Kurdish can also mean "and" or "because". | |||
| Turkish | o | ||
| "O" can also mean "he" or "she" in Turkish. | |||
| Xhosa | lonto | ||
| The word 'lonto' in Xhosa has roots in the Bantu language and is related to the Nguni term 'lokho', meaning 'that' or 'that which is there'. | |||
| Yiddish | וואָס | ||
| "וואָס" can also mean "how" in some Yiddish dialects, akin to the German "wie". | |||
| Zulu | ukuthi | ||
| Ukukhi can also mean "there" or "at that place". | |||
| Assamese | সেইটো | ||
| Aymara | kuna | ||
| Bhojpuri | ऊ | ||
| Dhivehi | އެ | ||
| Dogri | ओह् | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | na | ||
| Guarani | péva | ||
| Ilocano | adayta | ||
| Krio | dat | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | کە | ||
| Maithili | ओ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯗꯨ | ||
| Mizo | sawmi | ||
| Oromo | sana | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ତାହା | ||
| Quechua | chayta | ||
| Sanskrit | तत् | ||
| Tatar | бу | ||
| Tigrinya | እቲ | ||
| Tsonga | sweswo | ||