Where in Different Languages
Discover 'Where' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'where' holds a significant place in our vocabulary, as it allows us to inquire about the location of people, places, and things. Its cultural importance is evident in how it transcends language barriers, bringing us closer to understanding different cultures and ways of life.
For those with a passion for language and travel, knowing the translation of 'where' in different languages can be incredibly useful. Not only does it help facilitate communication, but it also opens up opportunities to engage with locals and discover hidden gems that may not be found in traditional travel guides.
Take, for example, the Spanish translation of 'where' - 'donde.' In French, 'where' is 'où,' and in German, it's 'wo.' These simple translations can lead to rich cultural experiences and deeper connections with people around the world.
Below, you'll find a list of translations of 'where' in various languages. Whether you're a language enthusiast, a frequent traveler, or simply curious, this list is sure to inspire a sense of wonder and appreciation for the beauty and diversity of language and culture.
Where
Where in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | waar | ||
| Afrikaans "waar" can also mean "true" and is cognate with Dutch "waar" and English "ware" | |||
| Amharic | የት | ||
| The word "የት" in Amharic also means "whereabouts" or "location." | |||
| Hausa | ina | ||
| "Ina (where)" is the same root as "nani (what)", "wani (which)", and "wannan (this)". It is a form of the question word "n". | |||
| Igbo | ebee | ||
| Ebee, meaning "where," also means "in a certain place" and is sometimes used as a replacement for the preposition "na" (in). | |||
| Malagasy | izay | ||
| The word | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kuti | ||
| Kuti in Nyanja can also mean 'home', 'village', or 'town.' | |||
| Shona | kupi | ||
| In addition to "where," "kupi" can mean "for the purpose of" or "in order to." | |||
| Somali | aaway | ||
| The word "aaway" in Somali can also mean "a way of doing something" or "a reason for doing something". | |||
| Sesotho | kae | ||
| Swahili | wapi | ||
| Wapi also refers to a location on a map and is used in questions like "Wapi mlimani hapa?" (Where's the mountain here?) | |||
| Xhosa | phi | ||
| The word "phi" (where) in Xhosa also has the connotation of "direction of motion". | |||
| Yoruba | ibi ti | ||
| The Yoruba word "ibi ti" also means "at the place of" or "in the place of" depending on the context. | |||
| Zulu | kuphi | ||
| While some scholars say that 'kuphi' in Zulu means 'where', others believe it originates from 'khopi' - a place of rest during a journey | |||
| Bambara | min | ||
| Ewe | afi ka | ||
| Kinyarwanda | he | ||
| Lingala | wapi | ||
| Luganda | wa | ||
| Sepedi | kae | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ɛhe | ||
Where in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | أين | ||
| The word | |||
| Hebrew | איפה | ||
| The Hebrew word "איפה" also refers to an ancient Near Eastern unit of volume equal to around 40 liters. | |||
| Pashto | چیرته | ||
| The word "چیرته" can also mean "what place" or "what direction" in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | أين | ||
| The word | |||
Where in Western European Languages
| Albanian | ku | ||
| Albanian "ku" has other meanings like "where to" or "where from" or even "why" in some cases. | |||
| Basque | non | ||
| The Basque word "non" for "where" likely originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*en" meaning "in, inside" and shares cognates in many other Indo-European languages. | |||
| Catalan | on | ||
| 'On' is an alternate spelling of 'hont', meaning 'fountain' | |||
| Croatian | gdje | ||
| The word "gdje" in Croatian originates from the Proto-Slavic word "kъde" and also means "whence" | |||
| Danish | hvor | ||
| The Danish word “hvor” and the English “where” both come from an Indo-European root | |||
| Dutch | waar | ||
| In early modern Dutch, "waar" was also used to mean "how" and "when". | |||
| English | where | ||
| The word "where" is derived from the Old English word "hwær," which meant "in what place" or "in what direction." | |||
| French | où | ||
| The word “où” can also mean “or” in French depending on the context it is used in. | |||
| Frisian | wêr | ||
| The name "Wêr", the ancient Frisian name for Wieren, means "a hill in the sea" | |||
| Galician | onde | ||
| The word "onde" in Galician comes from the Latin word "unde", which also means "where from" or "in which place." | |||
| German | wo | ||
| The German word "wo" can also be used as an interrogative pronoun meaning "who". | |||
| Icelandic | hvar | ||
| In Old Norse, | |||
| Irish | áit | ||
| Italian | dove | ||
| "Dove" also means "pigeon" in Italian, as in the expression "uccelli e fiori per gli amanti e per le colombe" ("birds and flowers for lovers and doves"). | |||
| Luxembourgish | wou | ||
| Maltese | fejn | ||
| Fejn, besides meaning 'where' in Maltese, can also refer to 'inside' or 'within', similar to 'in' in English. | |||
| Norwegian | hvor | ||
| Hvor can also mean a narrow strait of water between a smaller island and the larger mainland or another island, such as near Kristiansund in Norway. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | onde | ||
| "Onde" comes from Latin "unde," meaning "from which," but in Portuguese it's used as "where." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | càite | ||
| The word "càite" can also be used to ask about a person's location. | |||
| Spanish | dónde | ||
| The Spanish word "dónde" originally meant "from where" and could be used to ask about the origin or starting point of something. | |||
| Swedish | var | ||
| Var, Swedish for "where," is cognate with English where and French uar. | |||
| Welsh | lle | ||
| The word | |||
Where in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | дзе | ||
| The word "дзе" evolved from the Proto-Slavic form *kъde, which also yielded the Russian "где" (gde), the Ukrainian "де" (de), and the Polish "gdzie" (gdzie). | |||
| Bosnian | gdje | ||
| The word “gdje” means "where in many other slavic languages, like Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian and Slovenian. | |||
| Bulgarian | където | ||
| The Bulgarian word "където" can also be used to mean "in which" or "in what respect." | |||
| Czech | kde | ||
| The word "kde" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*kъde", which is also the root of the Russian word "где" and the Polish word "gdzie". | |||
| Estonian | kus | ||
| The word "kus" in Estonian also means "in which" or "from which." | |||
| Finnish | missä | ||
| The word "missä" is derived from the Proto-Finnic "*missä" meaning "how" or "why". | |||
| Hungarian | hol | ||
| The word "hol" in Hungarian can also refer to the location of a person or thing or the time when something happened. | |||
| Latvian | kur | ||
| Kur comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷē, meaning to bend or to turn. | |||
| Lithuanian | kur | ||
| Macedonian | каде | ||
| The word "каде" also means "at home" in Macedonian. | |||
| Polish | gdzie | ||
| The word "gdzie" comes from the Proto-Slavic *kъde, which also means "whither" and "whence". | |||
| Romanian | unde | ||
| The Romanian word "Unde" is derived from the Latin word "unde", meaning in Romanian either "from where" or "to where". | |||
| Russian | где | ||
| The word "где" can also mean "whither" or "whence" in some contexts. | |||
| Serbian | где | ||
| "Где" means "where", but it can also mean the conditional clause "if" or "when" | |||
| Slovak | kde | ||
| "Kde" also means "how" and is a cognate of the Czech and Polish "gdzie", German "wo", Sanskrit "kudā" and Avestan "kadhā". | |||
| Slovenian | kje | ||
| "Kje" is cognate with Old Prussian "kai" and Lithuanian "kur". | |||
| Ukrainian | де | ||
| The word "де" in Ukrainian can also mean "in which case" or "under which circumstances". | |||
Where in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কোথায় | ||
| Gujarati | જ્યાં | ||
| The word "જ્યાં" can also mean "wherefore" or "when". | |||
| Hindi | कहाँ पे | ||
| The word "कहाँ पे" (where) is derived from the Sanskrit word "क्व" (kwa), meaning "where?" | |||
| Kannada | ಎಲ್ಲಿ | ||
| The Kannada word "ಎಲ್ಲಿ" (where) can also be used to express "wherever" or "anywhere". | |||
| Malayalam | എവിടെ | ||
| The word "എവിടെ" (where) in Malayalam originates from the Proto-Dravidian word "*ēv-", meaning "place". | |||
| Marathi | कुठे | ||
| The word 'कुठे' in Marathi also means 'somewhere' or 'anywhere', and can be used in place of the more specific words 'कोठे' or 'कुठलीही जागा'. | |||
| Nepali | कहाँ | ||
| "कहाँ" can mean "when" in Nepali (temporal meaning) as well as "where" (spatial meaning). | |||
| Punjabi | ਕਿੱਥੇ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කොහෙද | ||
| Tamil | எங்கே | ||
| Telugu | ఎక్కడ | ||
| "ఎక్కడ" (ekkada) is also used to refer to "any place" or "everywhere" in a general sense. | |||
| Urdu | کہاں | ||
| The Urdu word "کہاں" (where) is also used figuratively to mean "in what respect" or "to what extent". | |||
Where in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 哪里 | ||
| The word “哪里” also means “why” when used in the context of a question. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 哪裡 | ||
| The character "哪" in "哪裡" originally referred to a direction or location, and "裡" means "inside", hence its usage to indicate a specific place. | |||
| Japanese | どこ | ||
| "どこ" also means "what" and "why" in the Kansai dialect. | |||
| Korean | 어디 | ||
| "어디" also means "the time when" | |||
| Mongolian | хаана | ||
| The word "хаана" can also mean "at", "in", or "on". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဘယ်မှာလဲ | ||
Where in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | dimana | ||
| "Dimana" is derived from the Old Javanese word "dimana" which itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "dhima", meaning "place." | |||
| Javanese | ing pundi | ||
| In Javanese, the word "ing pundi" can also mean "where he/she is" or "where it is". | |||
| Khmer | កន្លែងណា | ||
| Lao | ບ່ອນທີ່ | ||
| Malay | di mana | ||
| "Di mana" can also mean "at" or "in" in Malay, depending on the context. | |||
| Thai | ที่ไหน | ||
| The word "ที่ไหน" can also be used as a question word meaning "who", "what", or "which". | |||
| Vietnamese | ở đâu | ||
| "Đâu" in "Ở đâu" originally means "head", but it has now become an interrogative word, functioning like "where". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | saan | ||
Where in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | harada | ||
| The word "harada" also means "in which place" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | қайда | ||
| The Kazakh word "қайда" can also be used to express "in which" or "in what way." | |||
| Kyrgyz | кайда | ||
| “Кайдa” translates as “where”, but it can also mean “when”, “how”, and “why”. | |||
| Tajik | дар куҷо | ||
| The Tajik word "дар куҷо" can also mean "from where" or "whence". | |||
| Turkmen | nirede | ||
| Uzbek | qayerda | ||
| The word "qayerda" can be derived from the Persian word "kājā" or the Mongolian word "qajar" | |||
| Uyghur | where | ||
Where in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ma hea | ||
| The Hawaiian word for 'where' is 'ma hea?', literally translated as 'where's?' | |||
| Maori | kei hea | ||
| Samoan | o fea | ||
| While "o fea" can imply location, it actually translates to "the place of" in Samoan. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | kung saan | ||
| "Kung saan" is also used in the sense of "wherein". | |||
Where in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | kawkhana | ||
| Guarani | moõpa | ||
Where in International Languages
| Esperanto | kie | ||
| The word 'kie' has no known etymology and has no other meanings than 'where' and 'whither'. | |||
| Latin | ubi | ||
| Latin ubi also means "in which," "by which," or "when," especially in questions. | |||
Where in Others Languages
| Greek | όπου | ||
| "όπου" is derived from "οπότε", meaning both "when" and "where". | |||
| Hmong | qhov twg | ||
| In some dialects, "qhov twg" can also mean "why". | |||
| Kurdish | ko | ||
| The word "ko" in Kurdish can also mean "what" or "how". | |||
| Turkish | nerede | ||
| In some Turkish dialects, "nerede" also refers to a person's hometown. | |||
| Xhosa | phi | ||
| The word "phi" (where) in Xhosa also has the connotation of "direction of motion". | |||
| Yiddish | וואו | ||
| The Yiddish word "וואו" ultimately derives from the Middle High German "wa" and Old High German "hwār", meaning "where" but also "whither" or "how". | |||
| Zulu | kuphi | ||
| While some scholars say that 'kuphi' in Zulu means 'where', others believe it originates from 'khopi' - a place of rest during a journey | |||
| Assamese | ক’ত | ||
| Aymara | kawkhana | ||
| Bhojpuri | कहाॅंं | ||
| Dhivehi | ކޮންތާކު | ||
| Dogri | कतांह् | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | saan | ||
| Guarani | moõpa | ||
| Ilocano | sadinno | ||
| Krio | usay | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | لەکوێ | ||
| Maithili | कतय | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯀꯗꯥꯏꯗ | ||
| Mizo | khawnge | ||
| Oromo | eessa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କେଉଁଠାରେ | ||
| Quechua | maypi | ||
| Sanskrit | कुत्र | ||
| Tatar | кайда | ||
| Tigrinya | አበይ | ||
| Tsonga | kwihi | ||