Whose in different languages

Whose in Different Languages

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

Updated on March 6, 2024

Whose is a possessive form of who, used to indicate that a noun or pronoun belongs to or is associated with a person or people. It's a simple word, but one that carries significant weight in language and culture. Understanding whose in different languages can help us appreciate the nuances of how different cultures express possession and association.

For example, in Spanish, whose translates to cuyo (masculine singular), cuya (feminine singular), cuyos (masculine plural), and cuyas (feminine plural). In French, whose translates to dont, while in German, whose translates to wessen.

The word whose has a rich history, dating back to Old English. Its various translations in different languages offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural and linguistic diversity of the world. Whether you're a language enthusiast, a cultural explorer, or simply curious, learning the translations of whose in different languages is a rewarding journey.

Whose


Whose in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaanswie se
The Afrikaans "wie se" can mean "whose" in English but can also be "who is" when referring to an unknown person.
Amharicየማን
"የማን" means both "whose" and "who".
Hausawaye
The word "waye" in Hausa can also mean "who" and is related to the word "wani" meaning "one".
Igboonye
The Igbo word "onye" can also mean "person" or "soul".
Malagasyizay
The word "izay" in Malagasy also means "which" and "what".
Nyanja (Chichewa)amene
The word "amene" in Nyanja can also mean "very" or "even".
Shonawaani
The word "waani" in Shona can also be glossed as "by whom" or "through whom".
Somaliyaa leh
"Yaa leh" can also mean "where" (geographically) in Somali.
Sesothoeo
The word 'eo' in Sesotho is derived from the Proto-Bantu word '*ya', which also means 'of' and 'belonging to'.
Swahiliya nani
The word "ya nani" can also be used as a polite form of address, similar to "sir" or "madam" in English.
Xhosakabani
The word "kabani" in Xhosa can also mean "the one who has" or "the one who owns."
Yorubatani
The word 'tani' used as a question word can also be employed as a possessive pronoun to indicate a person or thing as belonging to a known person and also shows the gender of the noun modified.
Zulukabani
The Zulu word "kabani" (whose) is also used to refer to people or things that belong to someone or something.
Bambarajɔn ta
Eweame ka tᴐ
Kinyarwandaninde
Lingalaoyo
Luganda-aani
Sepediyoo
Twi (Akan)a ne

Whose in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicملك من
Hebrewשל מי
The Hebrew word "של מי" means "whose" and is related to the Arabic word "شَل (shel)", meaning "who".
Pashtoد چا
Also can mean 'belonging to', 'of', or 'that of'
Arabicملك من

Whose in Western European Languages

Albaniantë cilit
The word "të cilit" can also mean "of which", "of whom" or "that" in Albanian.
Basquezeinen
The word "zeinen" in Basque can also mean "which" or "what" depending on the context.
Catalande qui
In Catalan, "de qui" can also mean "from whom" or "by whom".
Croatiančija
In older Croatian, 'čija' referred to male or female ownership of an object and was only used in questions.
Danishhvis
Hvis (whose) is a relic case form of who, which can only be used as a complement.
Dutchvan wie
In Middle Dutch, "van wie" meant "of which person".
Englishwhose
''Whose'' derives from Old English ''hwæs'', meaning ''who'' or ''which'', and is related to ''who'' and ''which''.
Frenchdont
Contraction of de + ont, i.e., "of" + "they have".
Frisianwaans
Galiciande quen
The Galician word 'de quen' (whose) has the same origin as the Latin 'de quoin'.
Germanderen
In German, "deren" (plural genitive feminine pronoun) is related to "der" (masculine) and "die" (feminine), and also to the demonstrative "derjenige" (that one).
Icelandichvers
Hvers is derived from the Old Norse “hverr,” meaning “who” or “which,” and is also related to the English “where.”
Irisha bhfuil a
Italiandi chi
"Di chi" in Italian can mean "whose" or "of which".
Luxembourgishdeenen hir
The word "deenen hir" is also used in the context of ownership, indicating "owned by" or "one whose something is."
Malteseli
In Maltese, 'li' can also be used to indicate an object or animal.
Norwegianhvem sin
The Norwegian word "hvem sin" is an old genitive form of the word "hvem" (who).
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)de quem
The word "de quem" is also used in Portuguese to ask "who?"}
Scots Gaelic
The Scots Gaelic word "cò" and the Irish word "cé" both derive from the Proto-Celtic word "ko-yo-s".
Spanishcuyo
The word "cuyo" also means "of which" or "of whom" in Spanish.
Swedishvars
In English, "vars" is used as a pronoun meaning "of whom", whereas in Swedish it can be used as a pronoun meaning "of which".
Welshy mae ei
The root of the word "y mae ei" is the interrogative word "pa" meaning "who".

Whose in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianчый
"Чый" is also used in the sense of "which" or "what".
Bosniančiji
Bulgarianчия
The word "чия" in Bulgarian can also refer to the chia plant or chia seeds
Czechjehož
The word "jehož" can also be used as a preposition meaning "of whom" or "whereof".
Estoniankelle oma
The Estonian word "kelle oma" has the same origin as the interrogative pronouns "kes" and "mis" and is related to the Finnish word "ken" (who).
Finnishjonka
The word "jonka" can also mean "of which" or "that."
Hungarianakinek
The word 'akinek' can also mean 'whoever' or 'whomever'.
Latviankuru
Despite meaning "whose" in Latvian, "kuru" can also mean "to dry off" in Russian.
Lithuaniankurio
Curio is possibly related to the Latin words "cura" (care) and "curia" (a meeting of the Roman senate).
Macedonianчиј
In Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian, "чиј" can also mean "which".
Polishktórego
"Którego" can also mean "which".
Romaniana caror
The Romanian word "a caror" is derived from the Latin word "cuius", which also means "whose".
Russianчья
The possessive pronoun "чья" in Russian can also be used to refer to inanimate objects, while in English "whose" is typically only used for people or animals.
Serbianчији
The word "чији" can also mean "which" or "what" in Serbian and is related to the word "чиј" meaning "whose" in Bulgarian.
Slovakktorého
Ktorého originates from the Proto-Slavic word *kterъ and the Sanskrit words katara "which" and katham "how", as well as the Latin word quot "how many".
Sloveniančigar
Čigar can also mean "whose" or "whosever," with the former being its predominant use
Ukrainianчия
"Чия" is a possessive pronoun in Ukrainian that can also be used as a reflexive pronoun to indicate whose something is.

Whose in South Asian Languages

Bengaliকার
"কার" also refers to "Brahman", a spiritual concept in Hinduism.
Gujaratiજેનું
The Gujarati word 'જેનું' (whose) can also mean 'of which' or 'of whom'.
Hindiकिसका
Hindi "किसका" can also mean "who's" or "whom's", and originated from "कस्य", an oblique case form of "कः" (who).
Kannadaಯಾರ
In Kannada, "ಯಾರ" can also refer to a person's name or a title implying respect.
Malayalamആരുടെ
Marathiज्याचे
Nepaliजसको
'को' at the end of words denotes 'who' and is often seen in Hindi words borrowed in Nepali.
Punjabiਜਿਸਦਾ
The Punjabi word "ਜਿਸਦਾ" can also refer to "of whom" or "of which".
Sinhala (Sinhalese)කාගේද?
කාගේද? in Sinhala can also mean "who is he?" or "who is she?".
Tamilயாருடைய
The Tamil word யாருடைய ("whose") originally meant "to desire."
Teluguఎవరిది
The word "ఎవరిది" can also refer to something that belongs to a group or an organization.
Urduکس کی
The word "کس کی" can also refer to a person's share or portion of something.

Whose in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)谁的
In Classical Chinese, “谁的” (shuí de) could also be read as “shuòdǐ”, meaning “to ask who” or “to inquire after someone’s identity”.
Chinese (Traditional)誰的
「誰的」在文言文中可指「誰是」或「誰在」
Japaneseその
"その" can also refer to a place or time instead of a person, as in "その場所" (that place) or "その瞬間" (that moment).
Korean누구의
"누구의" originally meant "whose" but was later used to denote "who is the owner of?" or "who has?".
Mongolianхэний
The word "хэний" can also be used to refer to a "belonging to" relationship or to indicate possession.
Myanmar (Burmese)ဘယ်သူလဲ

Whose in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianyang
Yang can also mean 'who' or 'which' and is often used in formal or written language.
Javanesesing sapa
"Sapa" also means the first consonant in a Javanese syllable, e.g. "s" in the word "siji".
Khmerដែល
The word "ដែល" ("whose") in Khmer is also used as a relative pronoun meaning "who", "which", or "that".
Laoທີ່
The word "ທີ່" can also mean "the one who" or "the one that".
Malayyang
The word "yang" in Malay can also mean "which" or "that".
Thaiซึ่ง
The word "ซึ่ง" (whose) in Thai is derived from the Pali word "so" (who), and can also mean "which" or "that".
Vietnameseai
"Ai" can also be used as a noun meaning "love" or "affection" in Vietnamese.
Filipino (Tagalog)kaninong

Whose in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanikimin
The word "kimin" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "kem" meaning "who" and the Azerbaijani suffix "-in" indicating possession.
Kazakhкімдікі
The Kazakh word "кімдікі" (kimdiki) is derived from the root "кім" (kim) meaning "who" and the suffix "-дікі" (-diki) indicating possession.
Kyrgyzкимдики
The word "кимдики" has an etymology with the word “ким”, which means "who".
Tajikки
The word "ки" can also refer to the word "what" in Tajik.
Turkmenkim
Uzbekkimning
In some dialects of Uzbek, "kimning" can also mean "who's".
Uyghurكىمنىڭ

Whose in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianka mea nāna
In Hawaiian, "ka mea nāna" can also refer to the subject or possessor of a verb or noun.
Maorina wai hoki
The term "na wai hoki" can also be used to express surprise or disbelief, similar to the English phrase "who would have thought?"
Samoano ai e ana
As well as meaning "whose", "o ai e ana" can also be used as an interrogative phrase asking "who is it?"
Tagalog (Filipino)kanino
The word "kanino" can also be used to ask "who" in a question.

Whose in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarauka
Guaranimáva mba’épa

Whose in International Languages

Esperantokies
"Kies" is also used in questions to mean "Which", as in "kies filo?" ("Which file?")
Latincuius
"Cuius" can also mean "his" or "her" depending on the gender of the noun it modifies

Whose in Others Languages

Greekτου οποίου
In Greek the pronoun 'τού' (which) and the relative 'οποίος' can both translate as 'whose' in English, but 'τού' is used when 'the thing possessed' comes first in Greek.
Hmongleej twg
The Hmong word "leej twg" is derived from the verb "leej", meaning "to belong to" or "to own", and the question word "twg", meaning "who".
Kurdishyê wan
The Kurdish word "yê wan" has a similar root to the Armenian word "yovn" (his, hers, yours), which may have come from Akkadian.
Turkishkimin
The word "kimin" can also refer to a type of Turkish yogurt soup made with wheat or barley.
Xhosakabani
The word "kabani" in Xhosa can also mean "the one who has" or "the one who owns."
Yiddishוועמענס
As an indefinite pronoun, the word can also refer to an unknown or indefinite person, and is often translated as "someone" or "somebody" in English.
Zulukabani
The Zulu word "kabani" (whose) is also used to refer to people or things that belong to someone or something.
Assameseকাৰ
Aymarauka
Bhojpuriकेकर
Dhivehiއެމީހެއްގެ
Dogriकोहदा
Filipino (Tagalog)kaninong
Guaranimáva mba’épa
Ilocanoasinno
Krioudat
Kurdish (Sorani)هی کێ
Maithiliकेकर
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯀꯅꯥꯒꯤ
Mizotu ber
Oromokan
Odia (Oriya)ଯାହାର
Quechuapiqpa
Sanskritकस्य
Tatarкем
Tigrinyaናይ መን
Tsongaswa mani

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