In this post, you’ll discover how to say “shadow” in 85+ languages, complete with pronunciation and example sentences. Whether you’re a language learner, a writer, or just curious, this guide will help you use the word “shadow” correctly in different parts of the world.
How to Say “shadow in other languages” in 85 Different Languages

(Each entry: Language Name (with country emoji) – Translation | Pronunciation – example sentence)
Read More: Cheers in other languages
- Afrikaans (🇿🇦) – skaduwee | skah‑doo‑veh
Die boom gooi ’n lang skaduwee. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Albanian (🇦🇱) – hije | hee‑yeh
Lëvizja e dritës krijon një hije të errët. (The light’s movement creates a dark shadow.) - Amharic (🇪🇹) – ጥላ | t’ila
(Tree example in English with Amharic word.) - Arabic (🇸🇦) – ظل | zill
الشجرة تسقط ظلًّا طويلًا. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Armenian (🇦🇲) – ստվեր | stver
(Example sentence.) - Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – kölgə | kyol‑geh
(Example sentence.) - Basque (🇪🇸) – itzala | ee‑tsahl‑ah
(Example sentence.) - Belarusian (🇧🇾) – цень | tsen’
(Example sentence.) - Bengali (🇧🇩) – ছায়া | cha‑ya
(Example sentence.) - Bosnian (🇧🇦) – sjena | syeh‑nah
(Example sentence.)
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – сянка | syan‑ka
Дървото хвърля дълга сянка. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Catalan (🇪🇸) – ombra | om‑brah
El sol projecta una ombra gran. (The sun casts a big shadow.) - Cebuano (🇵🇭) – anino | ah‑nee‑noh
Ang kahoy naghulog og taas nga anino. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Chinese (🇨🇳) – 影子 | yǐng‑zi
树下有一个长长的影子. (There is a long shadow under the tree.) - Croatian (🇭🇷) – sjena | syen‑ah
Stablo baca dugu sjenu. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Czech (🇨🇿) – stín | steen
Strom vrhá dlouhý stín. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Danish (🇩🇰) – skygge | skyoo‑geh
Træet kaster en lang skygge. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Dutch (🇳🇱) – schaduw | skah‑dow
De boom werpt een lange schaduw. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - English (🇬🇧) – shadow | sha‑dow
The tree casts a long shadow. - Estonian (🇪🇪) – vari | vah‑ree
Puu heidab pika varju. (The tree casts a long shadow.)
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – varjo | var‑yo
Puu heittää pitkän varjon. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - French (🇫🇷) – ombre | om‑bruh
L’arbre projette une longue ombre. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - German (🇩🇪) – Schatten | shat‑ten
Der Baum wirft einen langen Schatten. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Greek (🇬🇷) – σκιά | skee‑ah
Το δέντρο ρίχνει μια μακριά σκιά. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Gujarati (🇮🇳) – છાયો | chah‑yo
ઝાડ લાંબી છાયો પાડે છે. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Haitian Creole (🇭🇹) – lonbraj | lon‑brahzh
Pye bwa a fè yon gwo lonbraj. (The tree casts a big shadow.) - Hausa (🇳🇬) – inuwa | ee‑noo‑wah
Itacen yana jefa inuwa mai tsawo. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Hebrew (🇮🇱) – צֵל | tsel
העץ מטיל צל ארוך. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Hindi (🇮🇳) – छाया | chha‑yah
पेड़ लंबी छाया डालता है। (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Hungarian (🇭🇺) – árnyék | ar‑nyek
A fa hosszú árnyékot vet. (The tree casts a long shadow.)
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – skuggi | skoo‑ghee
Tréð kastar löngum skugga. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Igbo (🇳🇬) – ụ̀dọ̀ | oo‑doh
Ọkụkụ na-emepụta ụ̀dọ̀ ogologo. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Indonesian (🇮🇩) – bayangan | bah‑yan‑gan
Pohon itu membuat bayangan panjang. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Irish (🇮🇪) – scáth | skaw
Cuireann an crann scáth fada. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Italian (🇮🇹) – ombra | om‑brah
L’albero proietta una lunga ombra. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Japanese (🇯🇵) – 影 (kage) | kah‑geh
木は長い影を落とす。 (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Kannada (🇮🇳) – ನೆರಳು | neh‑rah‑lu
ಮರವು ದೀರ್ಘ ನೆರಳು ಬೀಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Kazakh (🇰🇿) – көлеңке | ku‑len‑keh
Ағаш ұзақ көлеңке түсіреді. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Khmer (🇰🇭) – ស្រមោល | sro‑mol
ដើមឈើបញ្ចេញស្រមោលយូរ។ (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Kinyarwanda (🇷🇼) – igicucu | ee‑gee‑coo‑coo
Igiti gitanga igicucu kinini. (The tree casts a large shadow.) - Korean (🇰🇷) – 그림자 | gee‑rim‑ja
나무는 긴 그림자를 드리운다. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Kurdish (🇹🇯) – sêvê | seh‑veh
Derê darê sêvê dirêj dike. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – көлөкө | köl‑ö‑kö
Бутак узак көлөкө түшүрөт. (The branch casts a long shadow.) - Lao (🇱🇦) – ແງາ | ngee‑ah
ໄມ້ສົ່ງແງາຍາວ. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Latin (🇻🇦) – umbra | oom‑brah
Arbor longam umbram iacit. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Latvian (🇱🇻) – ēna | eh‑nah
Koks met garu ēnu. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – šešėlis | sheh‑sheh‑lis
Medis meta ilgą šešėlį. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Malagasy (🇲🇬) – aloka | ah‑loo‑kah
Ny hazo dia manao aloka lava. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Malay (🇲🇾) – bayang | bah‑yang
Pokok itu menghasilkan bayang panjang. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Malayalam (🇮🇳) – നിഴൽ | ni‑zhal
മരം ദീർഘനിഴൽ സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നു. (The tree creates a long shadow.) - Maltese (🇲🇹) – dell | dell
Is-siġra tagħti dell twil. (The tree gives a long shadow.) - Maori (🇳🇿) – ārahi | ah‑rah‑hee
Kei te hanga te rākau i te ārahi roa. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Marathi (🇮🇳) – सावली | saa‑va‑lee
झाड लांब सावली टाकते. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Mongolian (🇲🇳) – сүүдэр | süü‑der
Мод урт сүүдэр тусгана. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Nepali (🇳🇵) – छाया | chha‑ya
रुखले लामो छाया पार्छ। (The tree casts a long shadow.)
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – skygge | skee‑geh
Treet kaster en lang skygge. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Pashto (🇦🇫) – سیوری | see‑o‑ree
ونې اوږد سیوری غورځوي. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Persian (🇮🇷) – سایه | sah‑yeh
درخت سایهای بلند میاندازد. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Polish (🇵🇱) – cień | chen
Drzewo rzuca długi cień. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Portuguese (🇵🇹) – sombra | som‑brah
A árvore projeta uma longa sombra. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Punjabi (🇮🇳) – ਛਾਂ | chhaan
ਵਿਰਖ ਲੰਮੀ ਛਾਂ ਪਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ। (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Quechua (🇵🇪) – sacha umbra | sah‑cha oom‑brah
Sach’ataq umbra hatunmi rikurqa. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Romanian (🇷🇴) – umbră | oom‑bruh
Copacul aruncă o umbră lungă. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Russian (🇷🇺) – тень | tyen’
Дерево отбрасывает длинную тень. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Serbian (🇷🇸) – сенка | sen‑ka
Дрво баца дугу сенку. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Sindhi (🇵🇰) – ڇانو | chhaa‑no
وڻ ڊگهو ڇانو ڪري ٿو. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Sinhala (🇱🇰) – සැළලි | se‑la‑li
ගස දිගු සැළලි දමයි. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Slovak (🇸🇰) – tieň | tee‑en
Strom vrhá dlhý tieň. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Slovenian (🇸🇮) – senca | sen‑tsa
Drevo meče dolgo senco. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Somali (🇸🇴) – hoos | hohs
Geedku hoos dheer ayuu sameeyaa. (The tree makes a long shadow.) - Spanish (🇪🇸) – sombra | som‑brah
El árbol proyecta una larga sombra. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Sundanese (🇮🇩) – bayangan | bah‑yan‑gan
Tangkal ngajadikeun bayangan panjang. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Swahili (🇰🇪) – kivuli | kee‑voo‑lee
Mti unatupa kivuli kirefu. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Swedish (🇸🇪) – skugga | skoo‑gah
Trädet kastar en lång skugga. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Tamil (🇮🇳) – நிழல் | ni‑zal
மரம் நீண்ட நிழலை உருவாக்குகிறது. (The tree creates a long shadow.) - Telugu (🇮🇳) – నీడ | nee‑da
మరము పొడవైన నీడను విసురుతుంది. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Thai (🇹🇭) – เงา | ngao
ต้นไม้ทอดเงายาว. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Turkish (🇹🇷) – gölge | guh‑lgeh
Ağaç uzun bir gölge düşürüyor. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – тінь | teen’
Дерево відкидає довгу тінь. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Urdu (🇵🇰) – سایہ | sa‑yah
درخت لمبا سایہ ڈالتا ہے۔ (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Uzbek (🇺🇿) – soya | soh‑yah
Daraxt uzun soya tashlaydi. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – bóng | bong
Cái cây tạo ra một cái bóng dài. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Welsh (🏴) – cysgod | kus‑god
Mae’r goeden yn taflu cysgod hir. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Xhosa (🇿🇦) – isithunzi | ee‑see‑thoon‑zee
Umthi uphosa isithunzi eside. (The tree casts a long shadow.) - Yoruba (🇳🇬) – ojiji | oh‑jee‑jee
Igi naa n fi ojiji gigun silẹ. (The tree casts a long shadow.)
Conclusion:
No matter where you go in the world, the word “shadow” carries beauty, mystery, and connection across all languages.
FAQ
Q: Why are there different words for “shadow”?
A: Languages reflect cultural perceptions—some emphasize protection (Hebrew tsel), others ghostly aspects or shade. Different roots, like Latin umbra or Proto‑Slavic sěna, feed into modern words.
Q: Are there multiple “shadow” words per language?
A: Yes—some languages have literary vs everyday terms, but we’ve chosen the most common, widely‑used form for clarity.
Q: How to pronounce accurately?
A: Pronunciations written in simplified English are guide only—hearing native speakers or using pronunciation tools is best.
Q: Why include sample sentences?
A: Seeing usage gives context, which helps memory retention and real‑life conversation—key to educational trust and linguistic accuracy.