While in Different Languages
Discover 'While' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'while' is a small but powerful part of the English language, often used to indicate the passage of time or to express a condition. Its significance goes beyond grammar, as it touches on the very way we perceive and interact with the world around us. From literary classics to modern-day conversations, 'while' has played a crucial role in shaping our cultural narrative.
But what about 'while' in different languages? Understanding this term in various tongues can open up new avenues of communication and cultural exchange. For instance, in Spanish, 'while' can be translated to 'mientras'; in French, it's 'pendant ce temps-là'; and in German, 'während'. These translations not only help us navigate linguistic barriers but also offer a glimpse into the unique ways different cultures perceive and express the concept of 'while'.
So, whether you're a language enthusiast, a world traveler, or simply curious, exploring 'while' in different languages can be a fascinating journey. Here's a list of translations to get you started:
While
While in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | terwyl | ||
| The Afrikaans word "terwyl" is rooted in Germanic, with alternate meanings such as "in or through the time that" and "throughout the moment that." | |||
| Amharic | እያለ | ||
| The word "እያለ" also means "having" or "possessing" in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | yayin | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning "while," "yayin" also means "even if" in Hausa. | |||
| Igbo | mgbe | ||
| The Igbo word "mgbe" can also mean "period of time", "season", or "occasion" in addition to "while". | |||
| Malagasy | raha mbola | ||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | pamene | ||
| "Pamene" in Nyanja (Chichewa) also means "when" or "as soon as". | |||
| Shona | apo | ||
| The word "apo" in Shona can also mean "in order to", "so that", or "in the case of". | |||
| Somali | halka | ||
| In Somali, "halka" also means "here" or "in this instance." | |||
| Sesotho | ha a ntse a | ||
| "Ha a ntse a" is also used to express the idea of "even". | |||
| Swahili | wakati | ||
| In the 19th century, 'wakati' was used to mean 'whenever' or 'at the time when' | |||
| Xhosa | ngeli xesha | ||
| The Xhosa word "ngeli xesha" can also mean "during the time of" or "at the time of". | |||
| Yoruba | lakoko | ||
| It is a Yoruba-language conjunction that can also mean "and". | |||
| Zulu | ngenkathi | ||
| The Zulu word 'ngenkathi' can also refer to the simultaneous occurrence of two actions or events. | |||
| Bambara | ka .... to.... | ||
| Ewe | esi me | ||
| Kinyarwanda | mugihe | ||
| Lingala | na ntango wana | ||
| Luganda | naye | ||
| Sepedi | mola | ||
| Twi (Akan) | berɛ a | ||
While in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | في حين | ||
| In Arabic, "في حين" can also mean "in fact" or "however". | |||
| Hebrew | בזמן | ||
| The Hebrew word "בזמן" ("while") is also used in the sense of "during," "when," or "at the time when." | |||
| Pashto | په داسې حال کې | ||
| Arabic | في حين | ||
| In Arabic, "في حين" can also mean "in fact" or "however". | |||
While in Western European Languages
| Albanian | derisa | ||
| Albanian "derisa" is derived from Proto-Indo-European root *del- which means "to stay". It is also sometimes used to mean "but" in formal written text. | |||
| Basque | bitartean | ||
| The word "bitartean" in Basque has other meanings, such as "interim", "meantime", "during" or "in the meantime". | |||
| Catalan | mentre | ||
| Catalan "mentre" can also mean "as long as" or "provided that" | |||
| Croatian | dok | ||
| The word "dok" can also mean "until" or "until when". | |||
| Danish | mens | ||
| The word "mens" also means "meantime" in Swedish, and "meanwhile" in Danish and Norwegian. | |||
| Dutch | terwijl | ||
| Terwijl, cognate to English "during", has also come to function as "whereas" and "however" in modern Dutch. | |||
| English | while | ||
| The word “while” comes from the Old English word “hwīl”, which meant “time” or “occasion”. | |||
| French | tandis que | ||
| In French, "tandis que" not only means "while," but also "whereas" and "meanwhile." | |||
| Frisian | wylst | ||
| The word "wylst" in Frisian is derived from the Old Frisian word "hwila", meaning "time". It is also cognate with the English word "while". | |||
| Galician | mentres | ||
| German | während | ||
| The term "während" can refer to both concurrent timing and a spatial relationship. | |||
| Icelandic | meðan | ||
| "Meðan" is also used as an idiom that translates to "by the grace of God" or "thankfully." | |||
| Irish | cé | ||
| The word "cé" also means "when" in the context of "when" it is raining. | |||
| Italian | mentre | ||
| "Mentre" has an ancient Latin origin as an accusative form of "mens" ("mind") and also refers to "interval", "period", or "space of time" in Italian. | |||
| Luxembourgish | wärend | ||
| The verb "wärend" can also mean "during". | |||
| Maltese | waqt | ||
| The Maltese word "waqt" is derived from the Arabic word "waqt" meaning "time" or "period". | |||
| Norwegian | samtidig som | ||
| "Samtidig" shares its root with the English word "contemporary". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | enquanto | ||
| The word "enquanto" can also mean "until" or "meanwhile" in Portuguese. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | fhad 'sa | ||
| The word ''fhad 'sa'' is also used to refer to a space or period of time. | |||
| Spanish | mientras | ||
| "Mientras" also means "meanwhile" or "in the meantime" in Spanish. | |||
| Swedish | medan | ||
| The Swedish "medan" is related to "midja" (`middle`), indicating that the time span it denotes takes place during another time span or action. | |||
| Welsh | tra | ||
| Welsh 'tra' not only means 'while' but also 'towards', 'across' and 'through'. | |||
While in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | пакуль | ||
| The word “пакуль” not only means “while”, but can also be used to denote the condition or time of some action, as well as in the sense of “in the meantime”, “meanwhile”. | |||
| Bosnian | dok | ||
| The word "dok" can also mean "then" in temporal conjunctions. | |||
| Bulgarian | докато | ||
| The Bulgarian word "докато'' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "dokъdь", meaning "how long" or "until." | |||
| Czech | zatímco | ||
| „Zatím co“ dříve znamenalo „zatím“ a používalo se i na začátku vět, dnes už je v takovém významu zastaralé. | |||
| Estonian | samas | ||
| The words "samas" and "sama" have multiple meanings, from the temporal "at the same time" to the locative "in the same place" or the comparative "the same kind". | |||
| Finnish | sillä aikaa | ||
| The Finnish word "sillä aikaa" is a contraction of the phrase "sillä aikaa kun," which means "at that time when." | |||
| Hungarian | míg | ||
| The word "míg" can also mean "until", "as long as", or "however" in Hungarian depending on the context. | |||
| Latvian | kamēr | ||
| The word "kamēr" in Latvian is derived from the Proto-Baltic root *kam, meaning "time" or "period". | |||
| Lithuanian | kol | ||
| The word "kol" in Lithuanian can also mean "until" or "as long as". | |||
| Macedonian | додека | ||
| The word "додека" is also used to mean "until" or "before" in Macedonian and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *dъkъde, which means "where". | |||
| Polish | podczas | ||
| Podczas "pod" + "czas" "time" - during the time. | |||
| Romanian | in timp ce | ||
| The Romanian word "în timp ce" directly translates to the English phrase "in time what," which is obsolete in modern English but still used in legal and formal contexts. | |||
| Russian | в то время как | ||
| In Russian, в то время как also means 'whereas' as well as 'meanwhile'. | |||
| Serbian | док | ||
| "Док" can also mean "a pier" or "a wharf". | |||
| Slovak | zatiaľ čo | ||
| The Slovak word "zatiaľ čo" can also mean "in the meantime." | |||
| Slovenian | medtem | ||
| The word "medtem" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *medь, which means "time" or "period". | |||
| Ukrainian | поки | ||
| The Ukrainian word "поки" can also mean "until" or "as long as". | |||
While in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | যখন | ||
| The word "যখন" can also mean "when" or "as" | |||
| Gujarati | જ્યારે | ||
| જ્યારે is derived from the Sanskrit word 'yadi' meaning 'if' or 'supposing'. | |||
| Hindi | जबकि | ||
| In Sanskrit, “जबकि” means “nearness” and “immediately” and this relates to its adverbial usage indicating “while”. | |||
| Kannada | ಹಾಗೆಯೇ | ||
| The word "ಹಾಗೆಯೇ" (hāgeyē) in Kannada, meaning "while," is etymologically linked to the verb "ಹಾಗು" (hāgu), which means "to be similar, to match, to be equal to," and can also be translated as "and, as well, besides." | |||
| Malayalam | ആയിരിക്കുമ്പോൾ | ||
| Marathi | तर | ||
| The word 'तर' in Marathi can also mean 'but' or 'however'. | |||
| Nepali | जबकि | ||
| When a comma is used with "जबकि," it means "but" or "however". | |||
| Punjabi | ਜਦਕਿ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අතර | ||
| The word 'අතර' in Sinhala can also mean 'between', 'amongst', or 'during'. | |||
| Tamil | போது | ||
| போது is related to the Sanskrit word "bodhate" meaning “to realize” and the Tamil infinitive verb "podukka" meaning "to understand". | |||
| Telugu | అయితే | ||
| The Telugu word 'అయితే' not only means 'while', but also 'however' and 'but' when used in a conditional sense. | |||
| Urdu | جبکہ | ||
| "جبکہ" means "but" or "on the other hand" in addition to "while" in Urdu. | |||
While in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 而 | ||
| While the simplified form of “而” in Chinese is also used as a conjunction meaning “and” in English, the traditional form 爾 was used in that way. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 而 | ||
| The Chinese character "而" (ér) can also mean "but", "then", or "and". | |||
| Japanese | 一方 | ||
| Another meaning of "一方" is "one side" or "one party" and is used when contrasting two sides of something. | |||
| Korean | 동안 | ||
| Mongolian | байхад | ||
| The word "байхад" can also mean "at the time when" or "when it comes to". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | စဉ်တွင် | ||
While in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | sementara | ||
| Javanese | nalika | ||
| The word "nalika" is derived from the Sanskrit word "nālikā", which means "a tube". | |||
| Khmer | ខណៈពេល | ||
| The word "ខណៈពេល" also means "during" or "at the time of" in Khmer. | |||
| Lao | ໃນຂະນະທີ່ | ||
| Malay | sementara | ||
| Although the word "sementara" usually means "while", it can also be used to mean "temporary" or "provisional." | |||
| Thai | ในขณะที่ | ||
| In Thai, "ในขณะที่" can also be used to introduce the main clause in a conditional or concessional sentence | |||
| Vietnamese | trong khi | ||
| Trong khi "trong" có thể chỉ không gian thì "kì" lại có thể biểu thị thời gian. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | habang | ||
While in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | isə | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "isə" derives from the Persian word "isi" meaning "if" and can also mean "but" or "however" depending on the context. | |||
| Kazakh | уақыт | ||
| The word "уақыт" in Kazakh, also means "time". | |||
| Kyrgyz | while | ||
| "While" is a conjunction meaning "at the same time as" and "although" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | дар ҳоле | ||
| The Tajik word "дар ҳоле" can also mean "the state of something" or "the way something is done". | |||
| Turkmen | wagtynda | ||
| Uzbek | esa | ||
| In Uzbek, the word "esa" can also mean "therefore" or "because of." | |||
| Uyghur | while | ||
While in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻoiai | ||
| The word ʻoiai, which usually means "while" in Hawaiian, can also mean "when," "since," or "before" depending on context. | |||
| Maori | ia | ||
| The word "ia" in Maori can also mean "that" or "therefore". | |||
| Samoan | a o | ||
| The word "'a o" can also be used to mean "since" or "until". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | habang | ||
| The root word of "habang" is "haba," which means "length," suggesting its original meaning as "during the length of time." | |||
While in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | ukhakamaxa | ||
| Guarani | upe aja | ||
While in International Languages
| Esperanto | dum | ||
| Latin | dum | ||
| "Dum" can refer to the time of an action or the condition under which it occurs. | |||
While in Others Languages
| Greek | ενώ | ||
| While 'ενώ' mainly means 'while', it also translates to 'whereas' or 'even' during certain contexts. | |||
| Hmong | thaum | ||
| The word "thaum" can also mean "when, if". | |||
| Kurdish | demek | ||
| The word "demek" in Kurdish can also mean "namely" or "indeed". | |||
| Turkish | süre | ||
| "Süre" is also a word of Arabic origin and means "duration" in Turkish. | |||
| Xhosa | ngeli xesha | ||
| The Xhosa word "ngeli xesha" can also mean "during the time of" or "at the time of". | |||
| Yiddish | בשעת | ||
| In Yiddish, "בשעת" can also mean "at the moment" or "presently." | |||
| Zulu | ngenkathi | ||
| The Zulu word 'ngenkathi' can also refer to the simultaneous occurrence of two actions or events. | |||
| Assamese | যেতিয়া | ||
| Aymara | ukhakamaxa | ||
| Bhojpuri | जब | ||
| Dhivehi | ކަމެއް ހިނގަމުންދާ އިރު | ||
| Dogri | तगर | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | habang | ||
| Guarani | upe aja | ||
| Ilocano | kabayatan | ||
| Krio | we | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | لەکاتێکدا | ||
| Maithili | एहि बीच | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯣꯏꯒꯨꯝꯕꯁꯨꯡ | ||
| Mizo | laiin | ||
| Oromo | gaafa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଯେତେବେଳେ | ||
| Quechua | mientras | ||
| Sanskrit | यावद् | ||
| Tatar | шул вакытта | ||
| Tigrinya | እስካብ | ||
| Tsonga | nkarhinyana | ||