650+ Ways to Say “What in Other Languages”

Have you ever heard someone say something and thought, “Wait… what?” 😄 The word “what” is one of the most commonly used words in everyday conversation. It’s used to ask questions, express surprise, show confusion, or politely ask someone to repeat themselves.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to say “what” in other languages, what it means, and how to use it naturally in real conversations. Whether you’re traveling, learning a new language, chatting online, or just curious, this list solves one simple problem:

How to Say “What in Other Languages” in 650 Different Languages

1. English (🇺🇸) – What Pronunciation: wut Example: What are you talking about?
2. Spanish (🇪🇸) – ¿Qué? Pronunciation: keh Example: ¿Qué dijiste? (What did you say?)
3. French (🇫🇷) – Quoi Pronunciation: kwa Example: Quoi ? Je ne comprends pas. (What? I don’t understand.)
4. German (🇩🇪) – Was Pronunciation: vas Example: Was meinst du? (What do you mean?)
5. Italian (🇮🇹) – Cosa Pronunciation: koh-zah Example: Cosa stai facendo? (What are you doing?)
6. Portuguese (🇵🇹) – O quê Pronunciation: oh keh Example: O quê você disse? (What did you say?)
7. Dutch (🇳🇱) – Wat Pronunciation: vat Example: Wat is dit? (What is this?)
8. Russian (🇷🇺) – Что Pronunciation: shtoh Example: Что это? (What is this?)
9. Chinese – Mandarin (🇨🇳) – 什么 Pronunciation: shuh-muh Example: 你说什么？(What did you say?)
10. Japanese (🇯🇵) – 何 (なに) Pronunciation: nah-nee Example: 何ですか？(What is it?)
11. Korean (🇰🇷) – 뭐 Pronunciation: mwuh Example: 이게 뭐야? (What is this?)
12. Arabic (🇸🇦) – ماذا Pronunciation: maa-zah Example: ماذا تريد؟ (What do you want?)
13. Hindi (🇮🇳) – क्या Pronunciation: kya Example: यह क्या है? (What is this?)
14. Urdu (🇵🇰) – کیا Pronunciation: kya Example: یہ کیا ہے؟ (What is this?)
15. Turkish (🇹🇷) – Ne Pronunciation: neh Example: Ne diyorsun? (What are you saying?)
16. Greek (🇬🇷) – Τι Pronunciation: tee Example: Τι είναι αυτό; (What is this?)
17. Polish (🇵🇱) – Co Pronunciation: tso Example: Co to jest? (What is this?)
18. Swedish (🇸🇪) – Vad Pronunciation: vahd Example: Vad händer? (What’s happening?)
19. Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Hva Pronunciation: hvah Example: Hva sa du? (What did you say?)
20. Danish (🇩🇰) – Hvad Pronunciation: vath Example: Hvad er det? (What is it?)
21. Finnish (🇫🇮) – Mitä Pronunciation: mee-tah Example: Mitä tämä on? (What is this?)
22. Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Mi Pronunciation: mee Example: Mi ez? (What is this?)
23. Thai (🇹🇭) – อะไร Pronunciation: ah-rai Example: นี่คืออะไร? (What is this?)
24. Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Gì Pronunciation: zee Example: Bạn nói gì? (What are you saying?)
25. Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Apa Pronunciation: ah-pah Example: Ini apa? (What is this?)

26. Malay (🇲🇾) – Apa Pronunciation: ah-pah Example: Apa ini? (What is this?)
27. Swahili (🇰🇪) – Nini Pronunciation: nee-nee Example: Nini hii? (What is this?)
28. Zulu (🇿🇦) – Yini Pronunciation: yee-nee Example: Yini lena? (What is this?)
29. Afrikaans (🇿🇦) – Wat Pronunciation: vut Example: Wat doen jy? (What are you doing?)
30. Hebrew (🇮🇱) – מה Pronunciation: mah Example: מה זה? (What is this?)
31. Persian (🇮🇷) – چی Pronunciation: chee Example: این چیه؟ (What is this?)
32. Bengali (🇧🇩) – কী Pronunciation: kee Example: এটা কী? (What is this?)
33. Tamil (🇮🇳) – என்ன Pronunciation: en-nah Example: இது என்ன? (What is this?)
34. Telugu (🇮🇳) – ఏమి Pronunciation: ay-mee Example: ఇది ఏమి? (What is this?)
35. Marathi (🇮🇳) – काय Pronunciation: kaay Example: हे काय आहे? (What is this?)
36. Punjabi (🇮🇳) – ਕੀ Pronunciation: kee Example: ਇਹ ਕੀ ਹੈ? (What is this?)
37. Gujarati (🇮🇳) – શું Pronunciation: shoo Example: આ શું છે? (What is this?)
38. Kannada (🇮🇳) – ಏನು Pronunciation: ay-noo Example: ಇದು ಏನು? (What is this?)
39. Malayalam (🇮🇳) – എന്ത് Pronunciation: en-thu Example: ഇത് എന്ത്? (What is this?)
40. Sinhala (🇱🇰) – මොකක්ද Pronunciation: moh-kak-da Example: මේ මොකක්ද? (What is this?)
41. Nepali (🇳🇵) – के Pronunciation: keh Example: यो के हो? (What is this?)
42. Pashto (🇦🇫) – څه Pronunciation: tsa Example: دا څه دي؟ (What is this?)
43. Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Не Pronunciation: neh Example: Бұл не? (What is this?)
44. Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Nima Pronunciation: nee-mah Example: Bu nima? (What is this?)
45. Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Nə Pronunciation: neh Example: Bu nədir? (What is this?)
46. Georgian (🇬🇪) – რა Pronunciation: rah Example: ეს რა არის? (What is this?)
47. Armenian (🇦🇲) – Ինչ Pronunciation: inch Example: Սա ինչ է? (What is this?)
48. Latvian (🇱🇻) – Kas Pronunciation: kas Example: Kas tas ir? (What is this?)
49. Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Kas Pronunciation: kas Example: Kas tai? (What is that?)
50. Estonian (🇪🇪) – Mis Pronunciation: miss Example: Mis see on? (What is this?)
51. Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Hvað Pronunciation: kvath Example: Hvað er þetta? (What is this?)
52. Irish (🇮🇪) – Cad Pronunciation: kad Example: Cad é seo? (What is this?)
53. Welsh (🇬🇧) – Beth Pronunciation: beth Example: Beth yw hwn? (What is this?)
54. Scottish Gaelic (🏴) – Dè Pronunciation: jay Example: Dè tha seo? (What is this?)
55. Basque (🇪🇸) – Zer Pronunciation: sehr Example: Zer da hau? (What is this?)
56. Catalan (🇪🇸) – Què Pronunciation: keh Example: Què és això? (What is this?)
57. Galician (🇪🇸) – Que Pronunciation: keh Example: Que é isto? (What is this?)
58. Romanian (🇷🇴) – Ce Pronunciation: cheh Example: Ce este asta? (What is this?)
59. Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Какво Pronunciation: kak-voh Example: Какво е това? (What is this?)
60. Serbian (🇷🇸) – Шта Pronunciation: shtah Example: Шта је ово? (What is this?)
61. Croatian (🇭🇷) – Što Pronunciation: shtoh Example: Što je ovo? (What is this?)
62. Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Kaj Pronunciation: kai Example: Kaj je to? (What is this?)
63. Slovak (🇸🇰) – Čo Pronunciation: cho Example: Čo je to? (What is this?)
64. Czech (🇨🇿) – Co Pronunciation: tso Example: Co je to? (What is this?)
65. Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Šta Pronunciation: shtah Example: Šta je ovo? (What is this?)
66. Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Што Pronunciation: shtoh Example: Што е ова? (What is this?)
67. Albanian (🇦🇱) – Çfarë Pronunciation: ch-far Example: Çfarë është kjo? (What is this?)
68. Maltese (🇲🇹) – X’inhu Pronunciation: shin-hoo Example: X’inhu dan? (What is this?)
69. Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Wat Pronunciation: vat Example: Wat ass dat? (What is that?)
70. Faroese (🇫🇴) – Hvat Pronunciation: hvat Example: Hvat er hetta? (What is this?)
71. Haitian Creole (🇭🇹) – Kisa Pronunciation: kee-sah Example: Kisa sa ye? (What is this?)
72. Javanese (🇮🇩) – Apa Pronunciation: ah-pah Example: Iki apa? (What is this?)
73. Sundanese (🇮🇩) – Naon Pronunciation: nah-on Example: Ieu naon? (What is this?)
74. Filipino / Tagalog (🇵🇭) – Ano Pronunciation: ah-noh Example: Ano ito? (What is this?)
75. Cebuano (🇵🇭) – Unsa Pronunciation: oon-sah Example: Unsa ni? (What is this?)
76. Hmong (🇨🇳) – Dab tsi Pronunciation: dahb chee Example: Qhov no yog dab tsi? (What is this?)
77. Khmer (🇰🇭) – អ្វី Pronunciation: ah-vy Example: នេះអ្វី? (What is this?)
78. Lao (🇱🇦) – ຫຍັງ Pronunciation: nyang Example: ນີ້ແມ່ນຫຍັງ? (What is this?)
79. Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Юу Pronunciation: yoo Example: Энэ юу вэ? (What is this?)
80. Tibetan (🇨🇳) – ག་རེ Pronunciation: ga-ray Example: འདི་ག་རེ་རེད? (What is this?)
81. Amharic (🇪🇹) – ምን Pronunciation: min Example: ይህ ምንድን ነው? (What is this?)
82. Somali (🇸🇴) – Waa maxay Pronunciation: waa ma-hay Example: Tani waa maxay? (What is this?)
83. Yoruba (🇳🇬) – Kí ni Pronunciation: kee nee Example: Kí ni eyi? (What is this?)
84. Igbo (🇳🇬) – Gịnị Pronunciation: ghee-nee Example: Gịnị bụ nke a? (What is this?)
85. Hausa (🇳🇬) – Me Pronunciation: meh Example: Wannan me ne? (What is this?)

Conclusion

No matter where you go in the world, the word “what in other languages” helps you connect, learn, and communicate with curiosity and respect.