Language essentials
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Produced by Amir Shirzadi, here are some useful phrases translated and spoken by native speakers of each. Thanks to the contributors he conscripted who provided the translations below, and who you can hear in the recordings.
You might want to right click on the links to play the audio file in another window/tab of your browser, or download the files. Then you can refer to the table while listening.
English | Spanish | French | Italian | German | Arabic |
Lucia Rancel (Madrid, Spain) Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Stephane Forsik (Paris, France) Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Laura Palombi, Michele Scervini (Italy) Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Carsten Schwandt, Laura Kipfstuhl (Germany) Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Hala Salman (Baghdad, Iraq) Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | |
Good morning / day | Buenos Dias | Bonjour | Buon giorno | guten Morgen / guten Tag | Sabah al-khaer |
Good afternoon | Buenas Tardes | Bon après-midi / Bonsoir | Buon pomeriggio | no analogue, one would say “guten Tag” | Masaa al-khaer |
Good night | Buenas Noches | Bonne nuit | Buona notte | gute Nacht | Tesbah ala-khaer |
Good bye | Adios | Au revoir | Addio | auf Wiedersehen | Maa-al-salama |
Please | Por favor | S’il vous plait | Per favore | bitte | Ragian |
Thanks | Gracias | Merci | Grazie | danke | Shawkren |
You are welcome | De Nada | Je vous en prie / De rien | Prego | bitte sehr / keine Ursache | Ahlan-wa-sahlan |
See you | Nos Vemos | A bientôt | Ci vediamo | tschüss / bis bald | Maa-al-salama |
Lets go | (Nos) Vamos | Allons-y | Andiamo | lass uns gehen / auf geht’s | Yaallah |
Ice cream | Helado | Glace | Gelato | Eis | |
Beer | Cerveza | Bière | Birra | Bier | Beara |
Wine | Vino | Vin | Vino | Wein | |
salt | Sal | Sel | Sale | Salz | Malah |
Water | Agua | Eau | Acqua | Wasser | My |
Gentlemen / Gentleman | Caballeros / señores / señor | Messieurs / Monsieur | Signori / Signore (il) | Herren / Herr | Sada/Saed |
Ladies / Lady | Señoras / Señora | Mesdames / Madame | Signore (le) / Signora | Damen / Dame | Saedat/Saeda |
Toilet | Baño | Toilettes | Bagno | Toilette / WC | Khala / Hamam |
Bill | La cuenta | Addition | Conto | Rechnung | Fartora |
Cash machine | Cajero | Distributeur (de billets) | Bancomat | Geldautomat | |
Help | Ayuda | À l’aide | Aiuto | Hilfe | Mosaada |
Square (roundabout) | Plaza | Place | Piazza | Platz | takataa |
Street | Calle | Rue (Route/Avenue/Allée) | Strada/Via | Straße | Shara |
Bull fighting | Toreo & Corrida Toro | Corrida | Stierkampf | ||
Bull | Torero | Taureau | Stier | ||
Bull fighter | Capote | Torero | Stierkämpfer / Torero | ||
Red cloth | rotes Tuch | ||||
Ideal man: | Uomo ideale: | der ideale Mann: | |||
Tall, Good-looking and Rich | Alto, Guapo y Rico | Grand, beau et riche | Alto, bello e ricco | groß, gutaussehend und reich | Taweel, Hellu, Ghani |
Idea things: | die ideale Sache: | ||||
Good, beautiful and cheap | Bueno, Bonito, y Barato | Bien, beau et pas cher | Buono, bello ed economico | gut, schön und billig | Gaed, Hellu rakhiss |
Delicious | Delicioso / Buenísimo | Délicieux | Molto buono/ delizioso | köstlich / delikat | Ta-yeb |
Kiss | Beso | Bisou | Bacio | Kuss | Bosa |
Hug | Abrazo | Cher / Chère | Abbraccio | Umarmung | I-nagh |
Dear (male / female) | Querido / Querida | Caro / Cara | Lieber / Liebe | Azizi / Azizati | |
Notes | ll shounds like y, ñ sounds like ni | “ß” is a sharp “s”; “ä”, “ö”, “ü” are umlauts derived from the respective vowels |
English | Spanish | French | Italian | German | Arabic |
Lucia Rancel Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Stephane Forsik Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Laura Palombi, Michele Scervini Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Carsten Schwandt, Laura Kipfstuhl Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | Hala Salman Listen (ogg) Listen (wma) | |
I am a teacher | (Yo) Soy profesor/a | Je suis enseignant | (Io) sono un insegnante/professore | Ich bin (ein) Lehrer | ana moalem |
You are kind | (Tú) Eres atento/a | Tu est gentil / gentile | (Tu) sei gentile | Du bist nett/freundlich | anta latif |
He is ill | (El) esta enfermo | Il est malade | (Lui) e’ malato | Er ist krank | hoa mariz |
She is happy | (Ella) es feliz | Elle est heureuse | (Lei) e’ felice | Sie ist glücklich | he-a sa-eeda |
We are tired | (Nosotros) estamos cansados | Nous somme fatigués | (Noi) siamo stanchi | Wir sind müde | nahnu tabanih |
You are late | (Vosotros) llegáis tarde | Vous êtes en retard | (Voi) siete in ritardo | Ihr seid spät | anta motaakher |
They are silly | (Ellos) son idiotas | Ils sont bêtes | (Essi) sono sciocchi | Sie sind blöd | homa aghbia |
I have a car | (Yo) tengo un coche | J’ai une voiture | (Io) ho la macchina | Ich habe ein Auto | andi sa-ya-ra |
You have money | (Tú) tienes dinero | Tu as de l’argent | (Tu) hai soldi/(Voi) avete denaro | Du hast Geld | andak floos |
He has a house | (El) tiene una casa | Il a une maison | (Egli) possiede una casa | Er hat ein Haus | Anda bet |
She has a dog | (Ella) tiene un perro | Elle a un chien | (Lei) ha un cane | Sie hat einen Hund | anda chaleb |
We have a book | (nosotros) tenemos un libro | Nous avons un livre | (Noi) abbiamo un libro | Wir haben ein Buch | andna ketab |
You have food | (Vosotros) tenéis comida | Vous avez de la nourriture | (Voi) avete del cibo | Ihr habt zu essen | andak akel |
They have nothing | (Ellos) no tienen nada | Ils n’ont rien | (Essi) non hanno nulla | Sie haben nichts | ma andhom shi |
I want tea | (Yo) quiero un té | Je veux du thé | (Io) voglio un te’ | Ich möchte/will Tee | arid chai |
You want flower | (Tú) quieres una flor | Tu veux des fleurs | (Tu) vuoi un fiore | Du möchtest/willst Blumen | trid warid |
He wants fish | (El) quiere pescado | Il veut du poisson | (Egli) vuole del pesce | Er möchte/will Fisch | yirid semach |
She wants water | (Ella) quiere agua | Elle veut de l’eau | (Lei) vuole acqua | Sie möchte/will Wasser | trid my |
We want to rest | (Nosotros) queremos descansar | Nous voulons nous reposer | (Noi) vogliamo riposare | Wir möchten/wollen uns ausruhen | nrid nosh-tah |
You want a bus ticket | (Vosotros) queréis un billete de autobús | Vous voulez un ticket de bus | (Voi) volete un biglietto dell’autobus | Ihr möchtet/wollt einen Busfahrschein | trid betagha bus |
They want medicine | Ellos quieren una medicina / un medicamento. | Ils veulent des médicaments | (Essi) vogliono la medicina | Sie möchten/wollen Medizin/Medikamente | yiridoun du-wa |
“möchten” is formal and kind, “wollen” is informal and more demanding |