Those in different languages

Those in Different Languages

Discover 'Those' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'those' is a small but powerful demonstrative pronoun in English, often used to point to specific people, places, or things that are not near the speaker. Its significance lies in its ability to create a sense of separation or distinction, making it a crucial tool in everyday language.

Culturally, 'those' has been woven into the fabric of many societies, featured prominently in literature, music, and everyday conversation. Its usage can reveal insights into social dynamics, power structures, and cultural norms.

For those interested in language and culture, understanding the translation of 'those' in different languages can be a fascinating exploration of linguistic and cultural diversity. For example, in Spanish, 'those' translates to 'aquellos' or 'aquellas,' depending on the gender of the nouns being referred to. Meanwhile, in Mandarin Chinese, 'those' can be translated as '那些 (nàxiē).'

Below, you'll find a list of translations of 'those' in various languages, showcasing the richness and diversity of human language and culture.

Those


Those in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansdié
Amharicእነዚያ
The word "እነዚያ" can also be used to refer to a group of people or things that are not specifically known or defined.
Hausawaɗancan
The word "waɗancan" in Hausa is derived from the demonstrative pronoun "waɗanda" ("these") and the plural suffix "-n". It is used to refer to a specific group of people or things that are distant from the speaker.
Igbondị ahụ
The Igbo word ndị ahụ (those) can also be used to refer to a person of high regard.
Malagasyireo
In some contexts, IREO can also refer to "the one(s) over there" or imply a sense of distance or separation.
Nyanja (Chichewa)awo
The singular form of "awo" is "uyo".
Shonaavo
Avo (plural for "uyo") is the Shona equivalent of the English word "those" and is used to refer to a group of distant objects or entities.
Somalikuwa
"Kuwa" can also mean "that one," "that which," or "the one" in Somali.
Sesothotseo
The word "tseo" in Sesotho can also refer to a group of people or objects.
Swahilihizo
Hizo also means 'she did' (feminine past tense of 'to do')
Xhosaezo
Ezo is the plural form of "lo" (this) and refers to things that are nearer to the speaker.
Yorubaawon yen
The Yoruba word "awon yen" can also mean "theirs" or "their own".
Zululabo
"Labo" is a contraction of "iilabo" which is the locative plural of "ila" (a place)
Bambaraminnu
Eweemawo
Kinyarwandaabo
Lingalabaoyo
Luganda-o
Sepedibao
Twi (Akan)wɔn

Those in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicأولئك
"أولئك" in Arabic may imply distance in place, time, or rank, or that the group being referred to is well-known or significant
Hebrewהָהֵן
The word "הָהֵן" in Hebrew is derived from the root "הה" which means "to point out" or "to indicate".
Pashtoهغه
In Pashto, the word "هغه" can also mean "that one" or "the aforementioned."
Arabicأولئك
"أولئك" in Arabic may imply distance in place, time, or rank, or that the group being referred to is well-known or significant

Those in Western European Languages

Albanianato
In older Albanian "ato" also meant "these"
Basquehoriek
The word 'horiek' can also refer to a person or group of people who are known or have been mentioned before.
Catalanaquells
Aquells, in Catalan, can also refer to the time just passed, as in 'ara mateix', which means 'right now'.
Croatianoni
The word "oni" in Croatian has no etymological connection to the English "only" and is not used to mean "only", as it is exclusively used to mean "those".
Danishde der
The Danish phrase 'de der' translates to 'those over there', implying physical separation and can point to individuals or objects, while 'dem' refers to 'those' with less emphasis on distance.
Dutchdie
The word "die" in Dutch can also mean "the" when placed before an adjective.
Englishthose
The word 'those' can also be used as a noun to refer to a group of people or things, as in 'Those people are very kind'.
Frenchceux
The plural of "celui" or "celle," "ceux" can mean "those" or "the ones."
Frisiandy
Though the word "dy" in Frisian means "those," it also used as an emphatic pronoun like "these" or "them."
Galicianesas
The word "esas" (those) in Galician comes from the Latin word "ille" (that), which also gave rise to the Spanish word "ese" (that)
Germanjene
The word "jene" comes from Old High German "gener" and could also mean "these" in Middle High German.
Icelandicþær
Historically, þær was also used as a definite article or as a demonstrative pronoun meaning "the one" or "that one"
Irishsiúd
The word siúd has its roots in the Old Irish word "sith", meaning "fairy"}
Italianquelli
The Italian word "quelli" derives from the Latin demonstrative pronoun "ille", meaning "that".
Luxembourgishdéi
The word "déi" also means "goddess" and is related to the Proto-Germanic word *teiwaz, meaning "god".
Maltesedawk
The Maltese word 'dawk' is derived from the Arabic word 'dhawk' meaning 'those' and is also used as a plural form of the demonstrative pronoun 'that'.
Norwegiande
"De" comes from Old Norse "theim" (the ones), and can also mean "one" in the context of "den" (that, he/she/it)
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)essa
"Essa" derives from the Latin "ipse" meaning "itself," indicating proximity or specificity.
Scots Gaeliciadsan
"Iadsan" can mean "them" or "those" in Scots Gaelic, and is derived from "iad" (he/she/it) and the plural suffix "-san."
Spanishaquellos
The plural form of "aquel" or "aquella" in Spanish, "aquellos" is an antiquated form of the definite article "el" that refers to a group of people or things that are distant in space or time.
Swedishde där
The word "de där" can mean "those" or "the ones" in Swedish.
Welshy rhai
The word 'y rhai' can also refer to a group of people with a specific characteristic or attribute, such as 'the rich' or 'the wise'.

Those in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianтыя
While in Standard Belarusian "тыя" is an invariable pronoun meaning "those", in the dialect of Western Palessie it may also function as an invariable demonstrative adjective meaning "that, yonder"
Bosnianone
The Bosnian word 'one' comes from the Latin 'unus', meaning 'single' or 'unique'.
Bulgarianтези
The word "тези" can also mean "these" or "the ones" in Bulgarian.
Czechty
The Czech word "ty" can also be used as a second-person plural pronoun, meaning "you".
Estonianneed
The Estonian word "nemad" means "those", but may also refer to a non-specific person or group.
Finnishnuo
The word "nuo" can also mean "the aforementioned" or "the aforesaid".
Hungarianazok
The word 'azok' is an Old Hungarian word that originally meant 'that' and is related to the Old Norse word 'þeir' and the Old English word 'þā' both meaning 'they'.
Latviantie
"Tie" also means "you" in old Latvian and "your" in the Livonian language.
Lithuaniantie
Lithuanian "tie" is derived from the Old Prussian word "teises", meaning "those" and has no connection to the English word "tie".
Macedonianоние
The word "оние" derives from the Proto-Slavic word *oni, which can also refer to masculine plural personal pronouns.
Polishte
The word "te" in Polish also relates to a specific form of grammatical gender, known as the "neuter gender."
Romanianacestea
The Romanian word "acestea" comes from the Latin word "ecce ista", meaning "behold these".
Russianте
"те" is the plural form of the demonstrative pronoun "тот" ("that") and can also mean "you" in the accusative or dative case of the plural form.
Serbianоне
In Old Slavic, the word 'они' meant both 'they' and 'those', and was only later split into two separate words in modern Slavic languages
Slovaktie
The Slovak word "ti" (those) can also mean "you" (formal) in certain contexts, akin to the familiar "tú" (you, informal).
Sloveniantiste
The word "tiste" in Slovenian, derived from the Old Slavic "ti" (meaning "this"), is also used to refer to individuals who are not present.
Ukrainianтих
The Ukrainian word "тих" can also mean "quiet" or "calm"

Those in South Asian Languages

Bengaliসেগুলো
সেগুলো is used in Bengali to refer to a group of things in the third person plural, equivalent to the English 'they' in both the nominative and accusative cases.
Gujaratiતે
The word "તે" also means "that" in Gujarati
Hindiउन
The word "उन" can also mean "wool" or "warmth" in Hindi.
Kannada
The word "ಆ" can also mean "he/she/they" or "that"
Malayalam
The Malayalam word "ആ" (those) is also used in Tamil with the same meaning.
Marathiत्या
The word "त्या" can also mean "him" or "her" in Marathi, depending on the context.
Nepaliती
The Nepali word "ती" also means "that" and "she".
Punjabiਉਹ
It is believed that the Punjabi word "ਉਹ" originated from the Sanskrit word "अव" (ava), meaning "down" or "away", and was later assimilated into Punjabi as "ਉਹ".
Sinhala (Sinhalese)එම
The word එම derives from the Sanskrit word 'tat', and also means 'that' or 'yonder'.
Tamilஅந்த
The Tamil word "அந்த" (anta) can also refer to "that which" or "the same".
Telugu
The Telugu word "ఆ" also functions as an expletive, similar to "damn" in English.
Urduوہ
The Urdu word "وہ" also means "he" or "she" in the singular form, especially when referring to a person who is absent or unknown.

Those in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)那些
那些 in Chinese can also be used to refer to a specific type of people, such as "those who have achieved success" or "those who are in power".
Chinese (Traditional)那些
那些, originally meant 'those things', but now refers to general third-person plurals, and can even be used as a polite way to ask questions.
Japaneseそれら
The word "Those" in Japanese is "それら" ( "sore-ra" ) and it also means "them".
Korean
"그" can also be the subject of a sentence in Korean, similar to how the English word "it" is used as an impersonal subject.
Mongolianтэдгээр
The word "тэдгээр" originally meant "the people over there" and evolved to mean "those" in 14th-century Mongolian.
Myanmar (Burmese)သူတို့အား
It shares the same root word with "သူ" which means "he/she/you".

Those in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianitu
"Itu" can also be used as a demonstrative meaning "that" or "that one".
Javanesesing
Sing in Javanese refers to an old or archaic type of writing found in inscriptions.
Khmerទាំងនោះ
The word "ទាំងនោះ" can also be used to refer to a group of people or things that have been mentioned before.
Laoເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ
ເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ can also be used to refer to a group of people or things that have been mentioned before or are known to the speaker and listener.
Malaymereka
"Mereka" is the plural of "dia" ("he/she") and can also refer to people of a higher social status.
Thaiเหล่านั้น
The word "เหล่านั้น" also has a figurative meaning and can be used to refer to people or things that are not physically present but are being alluded to or understood from context.
Vietnamesenhững, cái đó
The word "những" is derived from the Chinese word "那" (nà), meaning "that".
Filipino (Tagalog)mga

Those in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanibunlar
In Azerbaijani, the word “bunlar” means “those,” and it shares the same root as “bun,” which means “this.”
Kazakhанау
"Анау" also means "those with that (characteristic)".
Kyrgyzошол
"Ошол" (those) can be used as an exclamation in the phrase "ошол экен!", which means "that's how it is!".
Tajikонҳое
The Tajik word "онҳое" also means "they" or "people".
Turkmenbular
Uzbeko'sha
Uzbek o'sha can refer to either the demonstrative or the relative pronoun in Uzbek.
Uyghurشۇ

Those in Pacific Languages

Hawaiiankēlā mau
In ancient Hawaiian, the phrase "kēlā mau" originally signified "there" as in "there they go".
Maoriaua
The word 'aua' can also mean 'pain' or 'grief', and is related to the word 'hau', meaning 'breath of life'.
Samoanna
The term "na" may have originated from the Proto-Polynesian word "na" meaning "the" or "those".
Tagalog (Filipino)mga yan
The phrase "mga yan" can also be used to express irritation or annoyance, particularly when addressing a group of people.

Those in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarajupanaka
Guaraniumíva

Those in International Languages

Esperantotiuj
In Slavic languages, 'tiuj' means 'these'.
Latinillis
In the 5th century B.C., Greek 'oi' was pronounced in Latin as 'i', and so the Greek plural 'oi' became the Latin plural 'i' or 'ii' or even 'ei'. Latin 'i' then became Old French 'il' or 'eis' or 'eils', which became Middle English 'eyl' and 'il', where 'il' evolved into the English word 'they'.

Those in Others Languages

Greekεκείνοι
The word ''εκείνοι'' can also refer to people who are far away in space or time.
Hmongcov
The word "cov" can also be used as a plural marker for nouns.
Kurdishewan
The word 'ewan' in Kurdish is also used to refer to a public gathering place or guest house.
Turkishşunlar
"Şunlar" also refers to body lice in informal usage.
Xhosaezo
Ezo is the plural form of "lo" (this) and refers to things that are nearer to the speaker.
Yiddishיענע
Yiddish 'יענע' derives from Old High German 'jenis' and shares the same root as English 'yonder', 'other' and 'another'.
Zululabo
"Labo" is a contraction of "iilabo" which is the locative plural of "ila" (a place)
Assameseসেইবিলাক
Aymarajupanaka
Bhojpuriउहनी लोग
Dhivehiއެތަކެތި
Dogriओह्
Filipino (Tagalog)mga
Guaraniumíva
Ilocanodagidiay
Kriodɛn wan dɛn
Kurdish (Sorani)ئەمانە
Maithiliओ सब
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯃꯈꯣꯏꯁꯤꯡ
Mizosaw'ng saw
Oromojarreen
Odia (Oriya)ସେଗୁଡ଼ିକ
Quechuawakkuna
Sanskritतानि
Tatarалар
Tigrinyaእቲኦም
Tsongasweswo

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