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
| Afrikaans | dié | ||
| Amharic | እነዚያ | ||
| The word "እነዚያ" can also be used to refer to a group of people or things that are not specifically known or defined. | |||
| Hausa | waɗancan | ||
| 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. | |||
| Igbo | ndị ahụ | ||
| The Igbo word ndị ahụ (those) can also be used to refer to a person of high regard. | |||
| Malagasy | ireo | ||
| 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". | |||
| Shona | avo | ||
| 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. | |||
| Somali | kuwa | ||
| "Kuwa" can also mean "that one," "that which," or "the one" in Somali. | |||
| Sesotho | tseo | ||
| The word "tseo" in Sesotho can also refer to a group of people or objects. | |||
| Swahili | hizo | ||
| Hizo also means 'she did' (feminine past tense of 'to do') | |||
| Xhosa | ezo | ||
| Ezo is the plural form of "lo" (this) and refers to things that are nearer to the speaker. | |||
| Yoruba | awon yen | ||
| The Yoruba word "awon yen" can also mean "theirs" or "their own". | |||
| Zulu | labo | ||
| "Labo" is a contraction of "iilabo" which is the locative plural of "ila" (a place) | |||
| Bambara | minnu | ||
| Ewe | emawo | ||
| Kinyarwanda | abo | ||
| Lingala | baoyo | ||
| Luganda | -o | ||
| Sepedi | bao | ||
| Twi (Akan) | wɔn | ||
Those in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | أولئك | ||
| "أولئك" in Arabic may imply distance in place, time, or rank, or that the group being referred to is well-known or significant | |||
| Hebrew | הָהֵן | ||
| The word "הָהֵן" in Hebrew is derived from the root "הה" which means "to point out" or "to indicate". | |||
| Pashto | هغه | ||
| In Pashto, the word "هغه" can also mean "that one" or "the aforementioned." | |||
| Arabic | أولئك | ||
| "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
| Albanian | ato | ||
| In older Albanian "ato" also meant "these" | |||
| Basque | horiek | ||
| The word 'horiek' can also refer to a person or group of people who are known or have been mentioned before. | |||
| Catalan | aquells | ||
| Aquells, in Catalan, can also refer to the time just passed, as in 'ara mateix', which means 'right now'. | |||
| Croatian | oni | ||
| 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". | |||
| Danish | de 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. | |||
| Dutch | die | ||
| The word "die" in Dutch can also mean "the" when placed before an adjective. | |||
| English | those | ||
| 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'. | |||
| French | ceux | ||
| The plural of "celui" or "celle," "ceux" can mean "those" or "the ones." | |||
| Frisian | dy | ||
| Though the word "dy" in Frisian means "those," it also used as an emphatic pronoun like "these" or "them." | |||
| Galician | esas | ||
| The word "esas" (those) in Galician comes from the Latin word "ille" (that), which also gave rise to the Spanish word "ese" (that) | |||
| German | jene | ||
| The word "jene" comes from Old High German "gener" and could also mean "these" in Middle High German. | |||
| Icelandic | þær | ||
| Historically, þær was also used as a definite article or as a demonstrative pronoun meaning "the one" or "that one" | |||
| Irish | siúd | ||
| The word siúd has its roots in the Old Irish word "sith", meaning "fairy"} | |||
| Italian | quelli | ||
| The Italian word "quelli" derives from the Latin demonstrative pronoun "ille", meaning "that". | |||
| Luxembourgish | déi | ||
| The word "déi" also means "goddess" and is related to the Proto-Germanic word *teiwaz, meaning "god". | |||
| Maltese | dawk | ||
| 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'. | |||
| Norwegian | de | ||
| "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 Gaelic | iadsan | ||
| "Iadsan" can mean "them" or "those" in Scots Gaelic, and is derived from "iad" (he/she/it) and the plural suffix "-san." | |||
| Spanish | aquellos | ||
| 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. | |||
| Swedish | de där | ||
| The word "de där" can mean "those" or "the ones" in Swedish. | |||
| Welsh | y 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
| Belarusian | тыя | ||
| 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" | |||
| Bosnian | one | ||
| The Bosnian word 'one' comes from the Latin 'unus', meaning 'single' or 'unique'. | |||
| Bulgarian | тези | ||
| The word "тези" can also mean "these" or "the ones" in Bulgarian. | |||
| Czech | ty | ||
| The Czech word "ty" can also be used as a second-person plural pronoun, meaning "you". | |||
| Estonian | need | ||
| The Estonian word "nemad" means "those", but may also refer to a non-specific person or group. | |||
| Finnish | nuo | ||
| The word "nuo" can also mean "the aforementioned" or "the aforesaid". | |||
| Hungarian | azok | ||
| 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'. | |||
| Latvian | tie | ||
| "Tie" also means "you" in old Latvian and "your" in the Livonian language. | |||
| Lithuanian | tie | ||
| Lithuanian "tie" is derived from the Old Prussian word "teises", meaning "those" and has no connection to the English word "tie". | |||
| Macedonian | оние | ||
| The word "оние" derives from the Proto-Slavic word *oni, which can also refer to masculine plural personal pronouns. | |||
| Polish | te | ||
| The word "te" in Polish also relates to a specific form of grammatical gender, known as the "neuter gender." | |||
| Romanian | acestea | ||
| The Romanian word "acestea" comes from the Latin word "ecce ista", meaning "behold these". | |||
| Russian | те | ||
| "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. | |||
| Serbian | оне | ||
| In Old Slavic, the word 'они' meant both 'they' and 'those', and was only later split into two separate words in modern Slavic languages | |||
| Slovak | tie | ||
| The Slovak word "ti" (those) can also mean "you" (formal) in certain contexts, akin to the familiar "tú" (you, informal). | |||
| Slovenian | tiste | ||
| The word "tiste" in Slovenian, derived from the Old Slavic "ti" (meaning "this"), is also used to refer to individuals who are not present. | |||
| Ukrainian | тих | ||
| The Ukrainian word "тих" can also mean "quiet" or "calm" | |||
Those in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সেগুলো | ||
| 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. | |||
| Gujarati | તે | ||
| The word "તે" also means "that" in Gujarati | |||
| Hindi | उन | ||
| The word "उन" can also mean "wool" or "warmth" in Hindi. | |||
| Kannada | ಆ | ||
| The word "ಆ" can also mean "he/she/they" or "that" | |||
| Malayalam | ആ | ||
| The Malayalam word "ആ" (those) is also used in Tamil with the same meaning. | |||
| Marathi | त्या | ||
| The word "त्या" can also mean "him" or "her" in Marathi, depending on the context. | |||
| Nepali | ती | ||
| The Nepali word "ती" also means "that" and "she". | |||
| Punjabi | ਉਹ | ||
| 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'. | |||
| Tamil | அந்த | ||
| The Tamil word "அந்த" (anta) can also refer to "that which" or "the same". | |||
| Telugu | ఆ | ||
| The Telugu word "ఆ" also functions as an expletive, similar to "damn" in English. | |||
| Urdu | وہ | ||
| 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 | ||
| "그" can also be the subject of a sentence in Korean, similar to how the English word "it" is used as an impersonal subject. | |||
| Mongolian | тэдгээр | ||
| 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
| Indonesian | itu | ||
| "Itu" can also be used as a demonstrative meaning "that" or "that one". | |||
| Javanese | sing | ||
| Sing in Javanese refers to an old or archaic type of writing found in inscriptions. | |||
| Khmer | ទាំងនោះ | ||
| The word "ទាំងនោះ" can also be used to refer to a group of people or things that have been mentioned before. | |||
| Lao | ເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ | ||
| 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. | |||
| Malay | mereka | ||
| "Mereka" is the plural of "dia" ("he/she") and can also refer to people of a higher social status. | |||
| Thai | เหล่านั้น | ||
| 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. | |||
| Vietnamese | những, cái đó | ||
| The word "những" is derived from the Chinese word "那" (nà), meaning "that". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mga | ||
Those in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | bunlar | ||
| In Azerbaijani, the word “bunlar” means “those,” and it shares the same root as “bun,” which means “this.” | |||
| Kazakh | анау | ||
| "Анау" also means "those with that (characteristic)". | |||
| Kyrgyz | ошол | ||
| "Ошол" (those) can be used as an exclamation in the phrase "ошол экен!", which means "that's how it is!". | |||
| Tajik | онҳое | ||
| The Tajik word "онҳое" also means "they" or "people". | |||
| Turkmen | bular | ||
| Uzbek | o'sha | ||
| Uzbek o'sha can refer to either the demonstrative or the relative pronoun in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | شۇ | ||
Those in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kēlā mau | ||
| In ancient Hawaiian, the phrase "kēlā mau" originally signified "there" as in "there they go". | |||
| Maori | aua | ||
| The word 'aua' can also mean 'pain' or 'grief', and is related to the word 'hau', meaning 'breath of life'. | |||
| Samoan | na | ||
| 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
| Aymara | jupanaka | ||
| Guarani | umíva | ||
Those in International Languages
| Esperanto | tiuj | ||
| In Slavic languages, 'tiuj' means 'these'. | |||
| Latin | illis | ||
| 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
| Greek | εκείνοι | ||
| The word ''εκείνοι'' can also refer to people who are far away in space or time. | |||
| Hmong | cov | ||
| The word "cov" can also be used as a plural marker for nouns. | |||
| Kurdish | ewan | ||
| The word 'ewan' in Kurdish is also used to refer to a public gathering place or guest house. | |||
| Turkish | şunlar | ||
| "Şunlar" also refers to body lice in informal usage. | |||
| Xhosa | ezo | ||
| Ezo is the plural form of "lo" (this) and refers to things that are nearer to the speaker. | |||
| Yiddish | יענע | ||
| Yiddish 'יענע' derives from Old High German 'jenis' and shares the same root as English 'yonder', 'other' and 'another'. | |||
| Zulu | labo | ||
| "Labo" is a contraction of "iilabo" which is the locative plural of "ila" (a place) | |||
| Assamese | সেইবিলাক | ||
| Aymara | jupanaka | ||
| Bhojpuri | उहनी लोग | ||
| Dhivehi | އެތަކެތި | ||
| Dogri | ओह् | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mga | ||
| Guarani | umíva | ||
| Ilocano | dagidiay | ||
| Krio | dɛn wan dɛn | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ئەمانە | ||
| Maithili | ओ सब | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯈꯣꯏꯁꯤꯡ | ||
| Mizo | saw'ng saw | ||
| Oromo | jarreen | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସେଗୁଡ଼ିକ | ||
| Quechua | wakkuna | ||
| Sanskrit | तानि | ||
| Tatar | алар | ||
| Tigrinya | እቲኦም | ||
| Tsonga | sweswo | ||