The in Different Languages
Discover 'The' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'the', seemingly simple, holds a profound significance in language and culture. As a definite article, it distinguishes specificity in communication, guiding us to particular people, places, and things. Without it, our sentences can lose clarity and direction.
Through the centuries, 'the' has woven itself into the fabric of literature, history, and everyday conversations. Its usage varies across languages, reflecting unique cultural nuances and grammatical structures.
For instance, in Spanish, 'the' translates to 'el' (for masculine singular nouns), 'la' (for feminine singular nouns), 'los' (for masculine plural nouns), and 'las' (for feminine plural nouns). In German, it becomes 'der', 'die', and 'das', depending on the gender of the noun.
Delving into the translations of 'the' unveils a captivating journey through language and culture. Keep reading to discover more about this intriguing word!
The
The in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | die | ||
| "Die" may also be a contraction of the Dutch word "deze," meaning "this". | |||
| Amharic | የ | ||
| 'የ' has a possessive suffix meaning 'of' that was in turn derived from a word that referred to 'place' | |||
| Hausa | da | ||
| The Hausa word "da" can also mean "of the" or "belonging to". | |||
| Igbo | ihe | ||
| The word "ihe" in Igbo also means "thing" or "object". | |||
| Malagasy | ny | ||
| "Ny" is also used as a pronoun, referring to an unspecified third party. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | a | ||
| "A" can also mean "of" in Nyanja. | |||
| Shona | iyo | ||
| Iyo can also be used in a possessive sense, as in "the book of John" (bhuku raJohani). | |||
| Somali | ah | ||
| The word "ah" in Somali, apart from meaning "the," can serve as the subject marker for third-person singular nouns in verbal sentences. | |||
| Sesotho | the | ||
| In Sesotho, 'the' can also mean 'to' or 'from' depending on context. | |||
| Swahili | the | ||
| In Swahili, "the" can also be used as a possessive pronoun, meaning "his" or "her". | |||
| Xhosa | i | ||
| In Xhosa, the prefix "i" can denote a singular noun, a possessive pronoun, or a locative prefix, depending on the context. | |||
| Yoruba | awọn | ||
| Awọn can also mean "those who" or "the people who" in Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | i | ||
| In Zulu, the word 'i' can mean 'the' in English, but it can also mean 'he/she/it' in other contexts. | |||
| Bambara | e | ||
| Ewe | the | ||
| Kinyarwanda | i | ||
| Lingala | ba | ||
| Luganda | omu | ||
| Sepedi | the | ||
| Twi (Akan) | no | ||
The in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | ال | ||
| The Arabic word "ال" ("the") can also be used as a definite article to indicate a specific noun or as a prefix to form a superlative. | |||
| Hebrew | ה | ||
| ה (the) can also mean "this" or "that" when used with a gesture or in certain phrases. | |||
| Pashto | د | ||
| In Pashto, “د” also means “of, from, at, on, for, or by” depending on the context. | |||
| Arabic | ال | ||
| The Arabic word "ال" ("the") can also be used as a definite article to indicate a specific noun or as a prefix to form a superlative. | |||
The in Western European Languages
| Albanian | të | ||
| In Gheg Albanian, "të" can also mean "of". | |||
| Basque | du | ||
| Basque "du" can also mean "to" or "of". | |||
| Catalan | el | ||
| The Catalan word "el" derives from the Latin demonstrative pronoun "ille" ("that") and can also be used as an article with the meaning "a certain". | |||
| Croatian | |||
| The word "ti" can also mean "you" in an informal sense. | |||
| Danish | det | ||
| The word "det" can also mean "it" or "that" in Danish. | |||
| Dutch | de | ||
| In Dutch, "de" can also refer to the definite pronoun "that" or the demonstrative pronoun "this". | |||
| English | the | ||
| The word "the" derives from Old English "þe", which could also mean "that" or "this". | |||
| French | la | ||
| "La" in French can also mean "she" or "it" and comes from the Latin word "illa". | |||
| Frisian | de | ||
| The Frisian word "de" can also mean "this". | |||
| Galician | o | ||
| The Galician word "o" can also mean "or". | |||
| German | das | ||
| Das is used both as a definite article and as a demonstrative pronoun in German, similar to the English "the" and "that". | |||
| Icelandic | í | ||
| In Icelandic, "í" also means "in" and can be used in place of "innan" or "í innan". | |||
| Irish | an | ||
| The Irish word "an" can also mean "a" or "one" in certain contexts. | |||
| Italian | il | ||
| The Italian word "il" originated from the Latin "ille", meaning "that" or "he", and was initially used to indicate a specific element within a known context. | |||
| Luxembourgish | den | ||
| The 'den' in Luxembourgish is derived from the French 'le' or the German 'den', and can also be used to refer to a lion's den or a room in a house. | |||
| Maltese | il | ||
| Maltese "il" derives from Arabic "al" but is used both as "the" and as a plural marker. | |||
| Norwegian | de | ||
| The word "de" in Norwegian can also mean "they" or "them". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | a | ||
| The Portuguese "a", besides meaning "the," can also be used in front of nouns to indicate a non-specific quantity, similar to "some" in English. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | an | ||
| In Scots Gaelic, "an" can also mean "one" or "a certain". | |||
| Spanish | la | ||
| In Spanish, "la" can refer not only to a singular feminine noun but also to a direct object pronoun or a feminine definite article. | |||
| Swedish | de | ||
| Swedish "de" derives from an Old Norse definite article that applies to both masculine and feminine nouns. | |||
| Welsh | y | ||
| The Welsh word “y”, meaning “the”, has alternative forms, such as “yr”, when it precedes a vowel, and “'r”, when it follows the letter “a”. | |||
The in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | |||
| " (the) in Belarusian can also mean "this" or "that" in certain contexts, particularly at the beginning of a sentence. | |||
| Bosnian | the | ||
| As an alternative to the use of "the," Bosnian often uses a possessive pronoun with a generic noun to indicate that the noun is definite. | |||
| Bulgarian | на | ||
| The word "на" can also mean "on" or "in" in Bulgarian. | |||
| Czech | the | ||
| Slovo "the" se v češtině používá jako určitý člen, který se umísťuje před podstatné jméno, aby vyjádřil, že se jedná o konkrétní osobu, věc nebo pojem. | |||
| Estonian | |||
| The Estonian word “see” (meaning 'the') derives from Proto-Finnic “tä”, which also meant “this”. | |||
| Finnish | |||
| In colloquial Finnish, there are multiple ways to emphasize "the", such as "se" or adding extra vowels: "tee". | |||
| Hungarian | a | ||
| The definite article "a" was in former Hungarian an article which pointed out a distant object. | |||
| Latvian | |||
| In Latvian, the definite article "the" is "noteiktā forma" in full, which translates literally as "definite form". | |||
| Lithuanian | |||
| In Lithuanian, "the" originates from the demonstrative pronoun "tas" and can also mean "this" or "that". | |||
| Macedonian | на | ||
| The word "на" also serves as a particle of negation and as a particle denoting existence. | |||
| Polish | the | ||
| The word "the" in Polish originates from the Proto-Indo-European "*to-", meaning "this" or "that", and has been continuously used in the language since the 12th century. | |||
| Romanian | |||
| This Romanian word has multiple meanings, including articles, pronouns, and prepositions. | |||
| Russian | то | ||
| The word "то" can also stand for "that" and is frequently used as a connective particle. | |||
| Serbian | тхе | ||
| In Serbian, "тхе" can also mean "tea". | |||
| Slovak | the | ||
| In Slovak, "the" can also refer to a specific object or person that has been previously mentioned or is well-known. | |||
| Slovenian | |||
| The word "the" in Slovenian can also be used as a possessive pronoun, meaning "his" or "hers". | |||
| Ukrainian | |||
| The word "" can also mean "that" when used before a noun. | |||
The in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | দ্য | ||
| "দ্য" can also be the shortened form of "দশ্য" | |||
| Gujarati | આ | ||
| The Gujarati word 'આ' ('the') also has alternate uses, such as indicating respect or an honorific title. | |||
| Hindi | |||
| "The" in Hindi can also refer to "your," "their," or "his," depending on context. | |||
| Kannada | ದಿ | ||
| The archaic and poetic usage of 'ದಿ' in Kannada can refer to 'heaven' or 'the sky'. | |||
| Malayalam | ദി | ||
| ദി can also mean 'day' in Malayalam. | |||
| Marathi | अगोदर निर्देश केलेल्या बाबीसंबंधी बोलताना | ||
| "The" is a definite article in English and is used before nouns to specify a particular person or thing. | |||
| Nepali | को | ||
| In Sanskrit, "को" also means "who" and is often used in interrogative sentences. | |||
| Punjabi | ਇਹ | ||
| The word "ਇਹ" also means "this" or "it" in Punjabi. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | එම | ||
| The Sinhala word එම (ema) is derived from the Sanskrit word एष (eṣa), meaning "this" or "that." | |||
| Tamil | தி | ||
| The word 'தி' in Tamil also has the meaning of 'an', 'this', or 'that' depending on the context. | |||
| Telugu | ది | ||
| The word "ది" can also mean "this" or "that" in Telugu. | |||
| Urdu | |||
| The 'the' at the start of many Urdu words is often a remnant of the Persian definite article, but it may also be a marker of indefiniteness | |||
The in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 的 | ||
| "的" is an auxiliary word that marks a noun as a noun phrase. It is often translated as "the" in English, but it does not always mean "the" in Chinese. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 的 | ||
| "的" can also mean "belonging to" or "possessive". | |||
| Japanese | インクルード | ||
| 「インクルード」は、フランス語の「inclure（含む）」から派生した外来語です。 | |||
| Korean | 그만큼 | ||
| "그만큼" means "so many" in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | the | ||
| In Mongolian, | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | က | ||
| The particle က also conveys concepts of specificity, emphasis, and prominence. | |||
The in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | itu | ||
| Itu, as "the" in Indonesian, originated from the archaic demonstrative pronoun "it". | |||
| Javanese | ing | ||
| The Javanese word "ing" can also be used to indicate possession, a passive voice marker, or a prefix for adjectives. | |||
| Khmer | នេះ | ||
| While ‘ឝិឝនុង’ is normally seen as the equivalent of ‘the’ in English, it can also be used as a demonstrative pronoun, similar to ‘this’ or ‘that’ in English. | |||
| Lao | ໄດ້ | ||
| The word ໄດ້ can also be used as a present tense particle, indicating that an action or event is currently happening. | |||
| Malay | yang | ||
| In Indonesian, "yang" can also mean "which" or "who". | |||
| Thai | ที่ | ||
| In Thai grammar, "ที่" can also be used as a relative pronoun or an ordinal number. | |||
| Vietnamese | các | ||
| The word "các" in Vietnamese can also mean "various", "several", or "all kinds of". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ang | ||
The in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | the | ||
| In Azerbaijani, "the" ("the") can also refer to a specific or definite object, and is typically used before nouns that have already been mentioned in the discourse. | |||
| Kazakh | the | ||
| In Kazakh, "the" can also refer to a previously mentioned object or person, similar to anaphoric reference in other languages. | |||
| Kyrgyz | жана | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "жана" ("the") is also used to mean "new" or "another". | |||
| Tajik | ба | ||
| In Tajik, the word "ба" can also refer to "this", "that", or a place. | |||
| Turkmen | the | ||
| Uzbek | the | ||
| The word "the" in Uzbek can also mean "this" or "that" depending on the context. | |||
| Uyghur | the | ||
The in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ka | ||
| In Hawaiian, "ka" can also refer to a male or masculine entity | |||
| Maori | te | ||
| The word 'te' in Maori can also mean 'the one' or 'a particular one'. | |||
| Samoan | le | ||
| The definite article “le” can appear either before nouns, as a noun determiner, or before adjectives to form a noun modifier, and it is always used with common nouns but never with proper nouns. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | ang | ||
| Ang word "ang" also comes from the Sanskrit term "anga" which could mean "body part" or "limb" when translated in English. | |||
The in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jupa | ||
| Guarani | ha'e | ||
The in International Languages
| Esperanto | la | ||
| Latin | quod | ||
| The word "quod" can also refer to a jail or prison. | |||
The in Others Languages
| Greek | ο | ||
| The Greek word “ο” has an origin in the word “ός”, which means "he". | |||
| Hmong | tus | ||
| Tus also means "it" or "of it", and is used to refer to the subject of a sentence. | |||
| Kurdish | ew | ||
| The word 'ew' also means 'this' or 'that' in Kurdish. | |||
| Turkish | |||
| The word "the" in Turkish can also mean "this" or "that" when used with demonstrative pronouns. | |||
| Xhosa | i | ||
| In Xhosa, the prefix "i" can denote a singular noun, a possessive pronoun, or a locative prefix, depending on the context. | |||
| Yiddish | די | ||
| The Yiddish word "די" can also be a possessive form, indicating ownership of a noun. | |||
| Zulu | i | ||
| In Zulu, the word 'i' can mean 'the' in English, but it can also mean 'he/she/it' in other contexts. | |||
| Assamese | the | ||
| Aymara | jupa | ||
| Bhojpuri | के... | ||
| Dhivehi | އެ... | ||
| Dogri | ओह् | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ang | ||
| Guarani | ha'e | ||
| Ilocano | ti | ||
| Krio | di | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ەکە | ||
| Maithili | के | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯗꯤ | ||
| Mizo | chumi | ||
| Oromo | -icha | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | the | ||
| Quechua | chay | ||
| Sanskrit | the | ||
| Tatar | .әр сүзнең | ||
| Tigrinya | እቲ | ||
| Tsonga | ku | ||