Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
This is a handy phrase when you're learning a language or can't remember a particular word. Some of these phrases mean "What's the ... for ...?"
| Language | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Hoe sê u ... in Afrikaans? (formal) Hoe sê jy ... in Afrikaans? (informal) |
| Alastian | Wie sadd m'r...ùff Elsässisch? |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
كيف تقول
كلمة ... بالعربية؟(kayfa taqūlu kalimah ... bil-'arabīyah?) |
| Azerbaijani | Azərbaycanca ... necə demək lazımdır? |
| Basque | Nola esaten da ... euskaraz? |
| Bengali | এটাকে বাংলায় কী বলে? (eṭake baṅlae ki bôle?) এটার বাংলা কী? (eṭar baṅla ki?) |
| Bhojpuri | तू भोजपुरी मेँ ... कैसे बोलेला? (too bhojpuri mein ... kaiise bolela?) |
| Breton | Petra eo ar brezhoneg evit ...? |
| Bulgarian | Как ще кажеш ... на български език? (Kak šte kažeš ... na bãlgarski ezik?) inf Как ще кажете ... на български език? (Kak šte kažete ... na bãlgarski ezik?) frm Как ще кажеш ... на български? (Kak šte kažeš ... na bãlgarski?) inf Как ще кажете ... на български? (Kak šte kažete ... na bãlgarski?) frm |
| Cape Verdean | Kumó ki bu ta fla ... na kriolu? |
| Catalan | Com es diu en català ...? |
| Chamorro | Håfataimanu un sångan... gi fino'Chamoru? Håftaimanu un sångan... gi fino'Chamoru? Taimanu un sångan...gi fino'Chamoru? |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | ... 喺廣東話點講呀？ (... hái gwóngdùngwá dím góng a) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | ... 中文怎麼說？ [... 中文怎么说？] (... zhōngwén zěnme shuō) |
| Cimbrian | Bia khödet-ar ... in zimbrisch? |
| Croatian | Kako se kaže .... na hrvatskom? |
| Czech | Jak se česky řekne ... ? |
| Dalecarlian | Hvur segir þu ... í Dalskum? |
| Danish | Hvordan siger du ... på dansk? |
| Dutch | Hoe zeg je ... in het Nederlands? Hoe zeg ik..... in het Nederlands? |
| Efik | Didie afo edɔhɔ .... ke usem Efik? |
| Esperanto | Kiel oni diras ... en Esperanto? |
| Estonian | Kuidas Sa ütled ... eesti keeles? |
| Faroese | Hvussu sigur ein ... á føroyskum? |
| Finnish | Miten sanotaan ... suomeksi? |
| French | Comment dit-on ... en français ? |
| Frisian (North) | Hü säist dü ... aw Nordfrasch? |
| Frisian (West) | Hoe seisto ... yn it Westerlauwersk Frysk? |
| Friulian | Cemûd dîstu ... in furlan? |
| Georgian | როგორ იქნება ქართულად ...? (rogor ik’neba k’artulad ...?) |
| German | Wie sagt man ... auf Deutsch? |
| German (Berndeutsch) | Wi sagt me ... uf Bärndütsch? |
| German (Hessian) | Wie sagt mer ... uff Hessisch? |
| German (Kölsch) | Wie säät mer ... op Kölsch? |
| German (Low German) | Wo seggs du ... in Plattdüütsch? |
| German (Plautdietsch) | Woo sajt maun ... op Plauttdietsch? |
| German (Swabian) | Wia secht mr ... uf Schwäbisch? |
| German (Viennese) | Wia sogt ma ... auf Weanerisch? |
| German (Volhynian) | Wie sagt man ... auf Woliniendeitsch? |
| Greek | Πώς λέτε ... στα Ελληνικά;
(Pos léte … sta Ellinká?) - inf Πώς λές … στα Ελληνικά; (Pos les … sta Elliniká?) - frm |
| Haitian Creole | Kijan ou di...an kreyol? |
| Hebrew | (Eych omrim be'ivrit ...?) איך אומרים בעברית ...? |
| Hindi | हिंदी में ... कैसे कह्ते हैं | (Hindi mein ... kaisey kahtey hain?) |
| Hungarian | Hogyan mondjam magyarul ... ? |
| Icelandic | Hvernig segir maður ... á íslensku? |
| Indonesian | Bagaimana cara mengatakan ... dalam bahasa Indonesia? |
| Inuktitut | ...ᓂ ... ᖃᓄᖅ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᖅᐱᑦ? ...ni ... qanuq uqauhiqaqpin?/uqausiqaqpit? |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Cad é atá an focal Gaeilge ar ...? |
| Italian | Come si dice ... in italiano? |
| Italian (Roman dialect) | Come sse dice ... ('n) in romanesco? |
| Japanese | ．．．を日本語で何と言いますか。 (...o nihongo de nanto īmasu ka?) |
| Kazakh | ... қазақша қалай айтылады? (... qazaqşa qalay aytıladı?) |
| Klamath | waq dal ?i gee ?ewksiknii ?elGank |
| Latin | Quomodo ... Latine dicas? |
| Latvian | Kā jūs latviski sakāt ...? |
| Limburgish | Wie zaes doe ... in Limburgs? |
| Lithuanian | Kaip lietuviškai pasakyti ...? |
| Luxembourgish | Wéi seet een ... op Lëtzebuergesch? |
| Macedonian | Како се вели ... на македонски?
(Kako se veli ... na makedonski?) |
| Malay | Bagaimana anda cakap .... dalam bahasa Melayu? Apa bahasa Malaysianya ...? |
| Maltese | Kif tghid ... bil-Malti? |
| Manx | Cre'n aght t'ou gra ... 'sy Ghaelg? |
| Māori | He aha te kupu Māori mō ...? |
| Mayan (Yucatec) | Bix u ya'ala'al ... ich Maya? |
| Mongolian | Монголоор ..... -г яаж хэлэх вэ (Mongoloor ...-g yaj heleh ve?) |
| Nepali | तपाइले नेपालीमा .... लाइ कसरी भन्नुहुन्छ? (tapain le nepalima ... lai kasari bhannu hunchha? |
| Norwegian | Hvordan sier du ... på norsk? |
| Occitan | Cossí se ditz ... en occitan? |
| Persian | (shoma ... ro be Fārsi chi migin) شما ... رو به فارسي چي ميگين؟ |
| Polish | Jak się mówi...po polsku? |
| Portuguese | Como se diz ... em português? |
| Romanian | Cum se spune...în limba română? |
| Russian | Как сказать ... по-русски? (Kak skazat' ... po-russki?) |
| Samoan | Pe faapefea e te fai ... i le gagana faasamoa? |
| Scottish Gaelic | Ciamar a chanas tu/sibh ... ann an Gàdhlig? Dè Ghàidhlig a th'air ... ? |
| Scots | Haw dae ye say ... in Scots? |
| Serbian | Како се каже на српском ... (Kako se kaže na srpskom...) |
| Slovak | Ako sa po slovensky povie ...? |
| Slovenian | Kako se reče po slovensko ...? |
| Spanish | ¿Cómo se dice ... en español? |
| Stellingwarfs | Hoe zej' ... in Stellingwarfs? |
| Swahili | Unasemaje ... kwa Kiswahili? |
| Swedish | Hur säger man ... på svenska?
|
| Tagalog | Paano mo sabihin ang ... sa tagalog? |
| Tamil | நீங்கள் தமிழ் பேசுவீர்களா? (neengal Thamizh/Tamil pesuveergalaa?) |
| Telugu | ని తెలుగులో ఎలా చెపుతారు ? (..... ni theluguloa elaa cheputhaaru?) |
| Thai | ภาษาไทย ... พูดว่าอย่างไร (pah-sah tai ... pôot wâh yung-ngai) |
| Tigrinya | እዚ እንታይ ይበሃል (ብትግሪኛ)? (əzi əntay ybehal (btgrinya)?) |
| Tsez | Шов ... цез мецрехор йолъ? (Šow ... cez mecrexor yoł?) |
| Tongan | Ko e ha 'a e le'a faka-Tonga ki he ...? |
| Turkish | Türkçe'de ... nasıl denir? |
| Ukrainian | Як сказати українською ...? (Jak skazaty ukrajinśkoju ...?) |
| Urdu | (āp ... ko Urdu main isae kehte hain?) آپ ... اردو میں اسےکیا کہتےہیں |
| Uzbek | ... O'zbek tilida qanday aytiladi? |
| Venetian | Come se dixe ... in vèneto? |
| Vietnamese | Bạn nói ... thế nào trong tiếng Việt? |
| Welsh | Beth ydy'r Cymraeg am ... ? Beth ydy ... yn Gymraeg? |
| Xhosa | Uthini …ngesiXhosa? |
| Yiddish | (Vi zogt men ... oyf Yidish?) װי זאָגט מען ... אויף ייִדיש? |
| Yorùbá | Bawo ni o se le sọ ….. ni Yorùbá |
| Zulu | ... ukusho kanjani ngesiZulu? |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
You can send me audio files in any format. If you don't know how to make recordings on a computer, you can send me recordings on audio cassette. Let me know if you want to do this and I'll send you my snailmail address. Or you can call me on Skype (omniglot) and I'll do the recording.
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