These in Different Languages
Discover 'These' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'these' is a small but powerful determiner in the English language, used to refer to specific people, things, or ideas that are close by or immediately relevant. Its significance extends beyond grammar, as it helps us to categorize and understand the world around us. Moreover, 'these' carries cultural importance, as it reflects our desire to connect with others and share experiences.
For those interested in language and culture, knowing the translation of 'these' in different languages can be fascinating and enlightening. For instance, in Spanish, 'these' translates to 'estos' for masculine nouns and 'estas' for feminine nouns. Meanwhile, in Mandarin Chinese, 'these' can be translated as '这些' (zhèxiē).
Delving into the translations of 'these' in various languages can reveal intriguing cultural nuances and historical contexts. From the German 'diese' to the French 'ces', the Hindi 'ये' (ye) to the Arabic 'هذه' (hadhihi), the word 'these' takes on new meanings and connotations that can broaden our understanding of the world.
These
These in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | hierdie | ||
| The word "hierdie" derives from the Dutch word "deze", which also means "these". | |||
| Amharic | እነዚህ | ||
| The word "እነዚህ" can also be used to refer to people or things that are not present but are known to the speaker. | |||
| Hausa | wadannan | ||
| The word "wadannan" is etymologically related to the demonstrative pronoun "wannan" ("this"), and the plural suffix "-an". | |||
| Igbo | ndia | ||
| The word "ndia" can also mean "people" or "family" in Igbo. | |||
| Malagasy | ireto | ||
| IRETO is also used to refer to people or objects when the speaker wants to emphasize their physical presence and immediacy. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | awa | ||
| In some dialects of Nyanja, "awa" can also mean "these people" or "those guys". | |||
| Shona | izvi | ||
| In many dialects it is also used as a plural for the 1st person personal pronoun, meaning us or we. | |||
| Somali | kuwan | ||
| The word "kuwan" in Somali can also refer to a specific type of grass or plant. | |||
| Sesotho | tsena | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning, "tsena" also serves as a demonstrative pronoun in Sesotho, indicating the presence of something nearby. | |||
| Swahili | haya | ||
| 'Haya' can also mean 'shame' or 'embarrassment' in Swahili. | |||
| Xhosa | ezi | ||
| The word 'ezi' in Xhosa can also mean 'these people', 'these things', or 'these animals'. | |||
| Yoruba | iwọnyi | ||
| "Iwọnyi" means "these" in Yoruba and also refers to something or someone that is nearby or close to the speaker. | |||
| Zulu | lezi | ||
| "Lezi" in Zulu can also mean "the ones who do things in a certain way". | |||
| Bambara | ninnu | ||
| Ewe | nu siawo | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ibi | ||
| Lingala | oyo | ||
| Luganda | bino | ||
| Sepedi | tše | ||
| Twi (Akan) | weinom | ||
These in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | هؤلاء | ||
| "هؤلاء" is grammatically plural, although it is used for singular when referring to people who are distant or unknown. | |||
| Hebrew | אלה | ||
| "אלה" ("these" in Hebrew) also refers to (1) a tree (Pistacia palaestina) known for producing resin, or (2) to God in an allusion to God as mighty and majestic like the oak tree. | |||
| Pashto | دا | ||
| The word "دا" in Pashto is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *de-, meaning "this" or "here". | |||
| Arabic | هؤلاء | ||
| "هؤلاء" is grammatically plural, although it is used for singular when referring to people who are distant or unknown. | |||
These in Western European Languages
| Albanian | këto | ||
| The Albanian word "këto" also means "these" in some contexts, but is primarily used to refer to female third-person singular pronouns. | |||
| Basque | hauek | ||
| The Basque word "hauek" can also mean "they" or "the ones that". | |||
| Catalan | aquests | ||
| The Catalan word "aquests" comes from the Latin word "ecce" (lo, behold), just like the French word "ces". | |||
| Croatian | ove | ||
| In ancient Croatian, 'ove' was often used to refer to women as well, especially in folk songs. | |||
| Danish | disse | ||
| In Old Norse, "þesse" could also serve as 2nd person plural pronouns or the distal demonstrative adjective 'that'. | |||
| Dutch | deze | ||
| Deze is a homonym, meaning both "these" and "this". | |||
| English | these | ||
| The word "these" evolved from the Old English word "þās" meaning "this" or "these". | |||
| French | celles-ci | ||
| In Old French, "celles-ci" meant "this" (singular) and was used for both feminine and masculine nouns. | |||
| Frisian | dizze | ||
| The word "dizze" in Frisian is derived from the Old Frisian word "these" and is also used to refer to a group of people or things. | |||
| Galician | estes | ||
| Galician "estes" is the plural masculine definite article in the first person and has the same root as Spanish "este" ( | |||
| German | diese | ||
| The German word "diese" can also mean "this" or "this one" in the singular, unlike the English word "these" which is only used in the plural. | |||
| Icelandic | þessar | ||
| Þessar shares its root with the English "that," which also has various pronominal forms in modern usage. | |||
| Irish | iad seo | ||
| "Iad seo" (these) is also used in other senses, such as "it is they who" and "it was they who" | |||
| Italian | queste | ||
| In Italian, the word "queste" can also refer to a specific kind of musical composition known as a "queste", which is typically a piece for solo guitar or lute. | |||
| Luxembourgish | dës | ||
| Maltese | dawn | ||
| The Maltese word "dawn" also means "these" in English. | |||
| Norwegian | disse | ||
| When following a preposition like 'på' or 'til', 'disse' can refer to either 'these' or 'the aforementioned' | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | estes | ||
| In Portuguese, "estes" can also be used as a demonstrative pronoun, meaning "this" or "these," depending on the number of objects referred to. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | iad sin | ||
| Iad sin, the Scottish Gaelic for "these," also means "they are" in the present tense. | |||
| Spanish | estas | ||
| The word “estas” also means “you are” in the second person singular in Spanish. | |||
| Swedish | dessa | ||
| The word "dessa" is the plural form of "den" and "det" and can mean both "these" and "those". | |||
| Welsh | rhain | ||
| The etymology of rhain is uncertain though possibly from an older Celtic root. | |||
These in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | гэтыя | ||
| "Гэтыя" is the plural form of the demonstrative pronoun "гэты" (this/these), which is itself derived from the Old Slavic word "се" (this/these)" | |||
| Bosnian | ove | ||
| The word "ove" in Bosnian is derived from the Proto-Slavic "ovi" and is related to the Latin "ovi" (sheep) and the Sanskrit "avi" (bird). | |||
| Bulgarian | тези | ||
| The word "тези" can also refer to a thesis or a dissertation, particularly in an academic context. | |||
| Czech | tyto | ||
| Tyto is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *ty, meaning "this" or "these". | |||
| Estonian | need | ||
| The Estonian word "need" is derived from Old Estonian "needä", meaning "need, necessity" and is still sometimes used to express a need, or something that one must have. | |||
| Finnish | nämä | ||
| "Näiden" (genitive of "näämä") originally meant "these kinds of", e.g. "Näiden joukossa oli vanhoja taloja" ('There were old houses among these'). | |||
| Hungarian | ezek | ||
| In Hungarian, "ezek" originally meant "those" and only later came to mean "these". | |||
| Latvian | šie | ||
| Latvian word "šie" is declined form of a demonstrative pronoun "šis" (this) often used colloquially as "these". | |||
| Lithuanian | šie | ||
| The word "šie" in Lithuanian may also be used to mean "those" or "they", depending on the context. | |||
| Macedonian | овие | ||
| The word "овие" in Macedonian shares the same Slavic origin as the English word "ewe" (female sheep). | |||
| Polish | te | ||
| The word "te" can also mean the past tense of "take" in Polish. | |||
| Romanian | aceste | ||
| The word "aceste" in Romanian shares its etymological origin with the Latin demonstrative pronoun "istae" and is exclusively used in the feminine plural form. | |||
| Russian | эти | ||
| The Russian word "эти" (these) is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "тъ" (that), which in turn comes from the Proto-Slavic word *ti-. | |||
| Serbian | ове | ||
| The word "ове" ("these") in Serbian can also refer to sheep in the plural form. | |||
| Slovak | títo | ||
| The Slovak word "títo" comes from the Old Slavic root "*tь" and is cognate with the English word "that". | |||
| Slovenian | teh | ||
| The Slovene word 'teh' can also refer to tea or hay. | |||
| Ukrainian | ці | ||
| The word "ці" in Ukrainian originated in the Old Church Slavonic "си" ('these'), a dual form used with nouns in the plural and the accusative case. | |||
These in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | এইগুলো | ||
| এইগুলো can also mean | |||
| Gujarati | આ | ||
| "આ" is a common word in the Gujarati language which means "these", but it can also mean "that" or "this". | |||
| Hindi | इन | ||
| The word "इन" is also used to refer to "those" in Hindi, depending on the proximity of the objects to the speaker. | |||
| Kannada | ಇವು | ||
| The word "ಇವು" (these) is derived from the Old Kannada word "ಇವು" which was also used to mean "this" and "that". | |||
| Malayalam | ഇവ | ||
| The word "ഇവ" also refers to women collectively. | |||
| Marathi | या | ||
| The word "या" can also mean "he" or "she" in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | यी | ||
| यी (these) comes from the Sanskrit pronoun इमे (ime) and also means "this" in formal contexts. | |||
| Punjabi | ਇਹ | ||
| The word "ਇਹ" can also refer to an object that is close to the speaker but not necessarily plural. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | මේ | ||
| 'මේ' is also used as a prefix to some words to give them a diminutive sense | |||
| Tamil | இவை | ||
| In Tamil, the word “இவை” (these) originally meant "this" but became "these" to distinguish it from another word of the same sound that means "those". | |||
| Telugu | ఇవి | ||
| The word "ఇవి" is derived from the Proto-Dravidian root *i- "this", which is also the source of the Tamil word "இவை" (ivai) and the Kannada word "ಇವು" (ivu). | |||
| Urdu | یہ | ||
| ''یہ'' ('these') also means 'this' and can be used as a singular or plural pronoun, depending on the context. | |||
These in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 这些 | ||
| These is also used to indicate a group of people, such as 'these people' (这些人). | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 這些 | ||
| The word "這些" can also mean "all these" or "all of these". | |||
| Japanese | これら | ||
| The word これら(これら) is the plural form of the demonstrative pronoun これ、which literally means "this" or "the one in front of me." The word is also used to refer to something that is close to the speaker in time or space. | |||
| Korean | 이들 | ||
| The word 이들 (these) is a contraction of the phrase 이 사람들 (these people) | |||
| Mongolian | эдгээр | ||
| The Mongolian word "эдгээр" can also mean "the ones mentioned earlier" or "the ones in question". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဒီ | ||
| The word ဒီ is also used in Myanmar in a way similar to "this" in English, referring to something nearby or present. | |||
These in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | ini | ||
| The word "ini" in Indonesian can also be used to refer to something that is close to the speaker or that is being pointed at. | |||
| Javanese | iki | ||
| The word "iki" in Javanese can also mean "this" depending on the context, and it is also used in the expression "iki iki" to emphasize "this". | |||
| Khmer | ទាំងនេះ | ||
| The Khmer word ទាំងនេះ can also be used as a pronoun meaning "all of them" or "the whole group." | |||
| Lao | ເຫຼົ່ານີ້ | ||
| Malay | ini | ||
| The word "ini" in Malay has its origins in the Proto-Austronesian word *ini, meaning "this" or "here", and is related to the words "ini" in Indonesian, "ini" in Sundanese, and "ini" in Javanese. | |||
| Thai | เหล่านี้ | ||
| "เหล่านี้" also means "these people," "these guys," or "these people and animals." | |||
| Vietnamese | những cái này | ||
| The word "những cái này" is derived from the classifier "cái" and the demonstrative pronoun "này", and can also mean "these things" or "these ones". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ang mga ito | ||
These in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | bunlar | ||
| The word "bunlar" can also be used to refer to "all of these" or "the aforementioned" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | мыналар | ||
| The word 'мыналар' can also refer to 'the ones mentioned before' in Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | булар | ||
| In Turkish, the word "bu" also means "these". | |||
| Tajik | инҳо | ||
| The word "инҳо" (these) in Tajik is derived from the Persian word "اینها" (these). | |||
| Turkmen | bular | ||
| Uzbek | bular | ||
| Bulgarian 'тези' and Uzbek 'bular' likely have a common origin | |||
| Uyghur | بۇلار | ||
These in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kēia mau mea | ||
| In Hawaiian, the word “kēia mau mea” doesn't literally mean “these.” Instead, “kēia” means “this” and “mau” means “many.” Therefore, the literal translation would be “this many.” | |||
| Maori | enei | ||
| The Maori word "enei" originates from the Proto-Polynesian term "*enei" and has additional meanings such as "these here" or "the ones mentioned." | |||
| Samoan | nei | ||
| The Samoan word "nei" has the alternate meaning of "this" or "that" and is the plural form of "le". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | ang mga ito | ||
| The word "ang mga ito" can also be used to refer to a specific group of people or things. | |||
These in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | akanaka | ||
| Guarani | ko'ãva | ||
These in International Languages
| Esperanto | ĉi tiuj | ||
| "Ĉi" is a clitic that indicates proximity in space or time, and "tiuj" is a demonstrative pronoun meaning "those". Together, they mean "these". | |||
| Latin | haec | ||
| In Latin, "haec" can also refer to a group of female animals or objects. | |||
These in Others Languages
| Greek | αυτά τα | ||
| The word "αυτά τα" can also be used to refer to "the same" or "the aforesaid" | |||
| Hmong | no | ||
| The Hmong word "no" can also mean "that" or "this". | |||
| Kurdish | eva | ||
| The Kurmanji word "eva" is derived from the Middle Persian word "hēv" meaning "that" or "there" | |||
| Turkish | bunlar | ||
| In Turkish, "bunlar" originally referred to an assembly of warriors or nobles, but eventually came to mean "these" in general. | |||
| Xhosa | ezi | ||
| The word 'ezi' in Xhosa can also mean 'these people', 'these things', or 'these animals'. | |||
| Yiddish | די | ||
| The Yiddish word "די" also means "the" and is used in the same way that "the" is used in English. | |||
| Zulu | lezi | ||
| "Lezi" in Zulu can also mean "the ones who do things in a certain way". | |||
| Assamese | এইবিলাক | ||
| Aymara | akanaka | ||
| Bhojpuri | ई | ||
| Dhivehi | މި އެއްޗެހި | ||
| Dogri | एह | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ang mga ito | ||
| Guarani | ko'ãva | ||
| Ilocano | dagitoy | ||
| Krio | dɛn wan ya | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ئەمانە | ||
| Maithili | ई सब | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯌꯥꯝ ꯑꯁꯤ | ||
| Mizo | hengte | ||
| Oromo | kunneen | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଏଗୁଡ଼ିକ | ||
| Quechua | kaykuna | ||
| Sanskrit | एतानि | ||
| Tatar | болар | ||
| Tigrinya | እዚ | ||
| Tsonga | leswi | ||