IN THIS POST
- Freund / Freundin
- Kumpel
- Mädels
- Alter
- Bester Freund / Beste Freundin
- Dicke Freunde
- Enger Freund / Enge Freundin
- Bekannter
- Fremder
- Freundchen
There are many ways to say ‘friend’ in German. Whether you’re talking about your best friend, buddy, mate, chum, acquaintance or a stranger, we’re going to examine 10 different ways you can say ‘friend’ in German (including a few other bonus words for ‘non-friends’!)
Freund / Freundin
Translation: Friend / Boyfriend / Girlfriend
The most common way to say ‘friend’ in German is to use the word Freund for a male friend and Freundin for a female friend. German gets a bit confusing when you want to distinguish between a platonic, non romantic interest male or female friend, and a boyfriend or girlfriend.
We need to take a look at the words used before the word Freund / Freundin to discover whether we are talking about a friend or a boyfriend / girlfriend.
- Mein Freund / meine Freundin = Indicates possession = ‘my boyfriend / girlfriend’
- Ein Freund / eine Freundin = No possession = ‘a friend’
- Ein Freund von mir / eine Freundin von mir = No possession = ‘a friend of mine’
If you are talking to someone who is familiar with your friendship status with another person already, you can be less specific.
For example: Susanne is talking to Martin about her platonic friend Andreas.
She says: “Hallo Martin! Ich war mit meinem Freund Andreas im Cafe.”
(Hello Martin! I was with my friend Andreas in the café)
Martin knows that Susanne and Andreas are friends and not in a relationship, so Susanne knows she can say mein Freund Andreas without causing any confusion.
Just don’t do this when talking to new people who don’t know you well, because they will automatically assume if you say mein Freund / meine Freundin you are talking about your boyfriend or girlfriend.
Later on Susanne wants to introduce her boyfriend, Hans and long-time friend Markus to some new people.
She says: “Das ist mein Freund Hans und hier ist Markus, ein Freund von mir.”
(This is my boyfriend Hans, and here is Markus, a friend of mine)
Kumpel
Translation: Buddy / Pal / Mate
The next most common word for ‘friend’ in German is Kumpel. It is much more casual than Freund, and can mean buddy, mate, pal etc. It’s used by guys to other guys in the same way we use buddy, mate or pal in English. The possessive pronoun mein can be used without confusion because Kumpel is only used for friends, not romantic interests.
We can add bester in front to indicate that someone is a ‘best mate’ or ‘best buddy’.
“Ich gehe zu meinem Kumpel” (I’m going to my mate’s (place))
“Klaus ist mein bester Kumpel” (Klaus is my best buddy)
Mädels
Translation: Girls
A casual plural often used by women when referring to their close female friends. The plural form Mädels is mostly used in north and central Germany, with the plural form Mädeln is used in southern Germany and Austria. It’s sometimes used by men for women in a friendly or affectionate way.
“Heute Abend treffe ich mit meinen Mädels” (This evening I’m meeting my girls)
“Wie geht’s Mädels?” (How’s it going girls?)
Alter
Translation: Dude / Buddy
Alter is very informal and mostly used my male teenagers and young people to address their friends.
“Hey Alter, was geht?” (Hey buddy, how’s it going?)
Bester Freund / Beste Freundin
Translation: Best friend
Used in the same way as the English phrase. The ending in the adjective beste needs to be declined depending on whether we are talking about a male or female best friend.
“Mein bester Freund gibt mir immer gute Ratschläge” (My best friend always gives me good advice)
Dicke Freunde
- Translation: Thick friends
- Meaning: Thick as thieves
The English saying ‘thick as thieves’ means two people who are very close friends and get along very well. Sometimes it can imply that two people are planning or scheming together. The German equivalent is used in a similar way.
“Ich wusste nicht, das ihr so dicke Freunde seid” (I didn’t know you two were such close friends)
“Er und Justin sind dicke Freunde” (He and Justin are thick as thieves)
Enger Freund / Enge Freundin
Translation: Close friend
The adjective eng means tight, narrow or close. Similar to dicke Freunde, it is used to describe two people who are very close friends. Again the adjective eng needs to be declined depending on the gender of the person it is referring to.
“Sie ist eine enge Freundin von Stephan” (She is a close friend of Stephan’s)
Bekannter
Translation: Acquaintance
The word bekannt in German means ‘known’ or ‘famous’. For example: Der Schauspieler ist hier sehr bekannt (the actor is well known here). But we can use bekannter to describe someone who is known to someone, but not yet considered a friend, therefor an acquaintance.
Er ist kein Freund, sondern ein Bekannter (He is not a friend, rather an acquaintance)
Fremder
Translation: Stranger
At the opposite end of the scale to freund, we have fremder. Used for someone who is completely unknown to a person. It comes from the word fremd, meaning strange or foreign. You may know the word fremdsprache (foreign language).
Der Hund bellte einen Fremden an (The dog barks at a stranger)
Freundchen
Translation: Mate / Buster / Pal
Freundchen is a word used in a sarcastic or intimidating manner when someone is angry or irritated by someone. It’s a bit like putting ‘mate’, ‘buster’ or ‘pal’ at the end of a sentence in order to show your irritation at someone.
Sie stehen auf dünnem Eis, Freundchen (You’re on thin ice, my friend)
Reden Sie mit mir, Freundchen? (Are you talking to me, pal?)
So now you know 10 ways to say ‘friend’ in German (including a few bonus words). Have you used any of these yourself?
You may already have found out (possibly at your own expense!) that German is one word short when it comes to romance and friendship.
The words Freundin (female friend) and Freund (male friend) have to make do for all types of relationships, be they amorous or platonic. It can be tricky therefore to find out what somebody is up to without asking direct nosy questions or making your own relationship status quite clear.
Misunderstandings seem inevitable but not to worry — with a few simple tricks you can get it nearly always right. Here is how.
1. Steer Clear of Awkward Situations by Slipping In «Von Mir»
This is a fail-safe way of describing your friendship — no blunders possible.
«Das ist Paul, er ist ein Freund von mir.
“That’s Paul. He is a friend of mine.»
«Das ist Nadia, eine Freundin von mir. – “That’s Nadia, a friend of mine.»
If you want to learn german quick and easy, these little shortcuts are key.
2. Use Their First Name Strategically
Use their name in the right place to indicate you are just friends or leave it out if you are an item:
«Das ist meine Freundin Esra.» – “That’s my friend Esra.”
“Das ist meine Freundin.” – “That’s my girlfriend.”
«Das ist Julio, mein Freund.» – “That’s Julio, my boyfriend.”
In the last example, the comma is key. First you introduce him and then you stress what kind of relationship you have with him.
3. Play It Safe by Using the Word Kumpel
Another way out is to use the word Kumpel when referring to a mate, buddy or pal. Unfortunately, it is mostly used for males, with the female Kumpelin not being very common. That might be because it actually means coal miner, to this day a heavily male-dominated industry. The plural for Kumpel is also Kumpel or, more colloquially, Kumpels.
«Das ist mein Kumpel Ender.» – That’s my friend Ender.»
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A male «Friend» translates as «Freund».
A female «Friend» translates as «Freundin».
Multiple «Friends» translates as «Freunde».
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∙ 14y ago
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English: «the friend» = German: «der Freund» or «die Freundin».
«Freund» for a male friend,
«Freundin» for a female friend.
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January 8, 2023
50 German Personality Words to Describe Your Friends (or Enemies)
Germans have a pretty dull reputation around the world for being bland, humorless and dry.
Yet scanning over seemingly endless lists of German personality words and descriptive adjectives reveals that there’s much more to be said about German stereotypes.
Once you start getting to know Germans or speaking the language, you’ll find that using colorful language is a part of the German way of life!
Contents
- What’s the Value of Describing Others?
- The Best Resources to Learn Descriptive German Personality Vocabulary
-
- Learning adjective endings
- Say as the locals say with videos
- Get some reading practice while discovering new words
- 50 German Personality Words That Prove Germans Aren’t Dull
-
- Positive Begriffe (positive terms)
- Neutrale Adjektive (neutral adjectives)
- Negative Beschreibungen (negative descriptions)
- Slang words to use with your Kumpels (buddies)
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
What’s the Value of Describing Others?
A stereotype that many foreigners will swear by, however, is the widely shared opinion that Germans are incredibly difficult to befriend (at least compared to those from other cultures).
Unless you’re speaking exclusively in English, language barriers make the friendship process an even bigger challenge to face. Being able to describe people enables you to formulate your own opinions and as a result bond with like-minded individuals. Not too fond of Helen? Neither is Johannes. Meet your new best friend.
Additionally, using a diverse mix of words makes it possible to flatter or insult (try to be nice!). If you truly appreciate how helpful your classmate is, tell them! Nothing makes the heart grow fonder than a heartfelt compliment about someone’s character.
For beginners, learning German personality words is a powerful tool to practice sein (to be) conjugations and adjective endings.
With just a few commonly used descriptive words like froh (happy), gemein (mean), arrogant (arrogant) and witzig (funny), you’re already well on your way to creating meaningful sentences that extend beyond empty textbook examples like Hans ist ein Mann (Hans is a man). How many of you actually know a Hans?
Essentially, having power over a toolkit of German words to express yourself gives you more depth when speaking, even if you haven’t yet mastered advanced German conversation skills.
The Best Resources to Learn Descriptive German Personality Vocabulary
A simple Google search for German personality words will only get you limited results to stock up your vocabulary library.
As we all well know, the best way to absorb a new language is through immersion, out in the wild. Sitting in front of your computer or phone at home in a non-German-speaking country of course makes this a bit harder in practice, but there are ways around this.
Some expert ways to soak in colorful personalities include watching videos and reading opinionated pieces, such as magazines, novels and stories.
Learning adjective endings
Before diving right into the multiple-personality buffet, you ought to know a thing or two about adjective endings. As any German language learner can attest, once article endings come into the picture, German gets a whole lot messier.
Start practicing adjective endings with exercises on various German learning sites, such as Your Daily German or on Nthuleen. Depending on whether the person you’re describing is male or female, your article endings must change accordingly. After mastering endings, you’re ready to pop in any German personality word and get describing!
Say as the locals say with videos
Watching captioned videos can reveal more descriptive words to help express your views on your neighbors. But videos can be used for a lot more than just picking up stray words, but also for picking up on cultural norms.
There are many resources online that you can use to find videos. We’ll give you a few to get started.
One resource that you could use is the Easy German YouTube channel. Here, you can watch videos of interviewers in different German cities asking people on the street questions about various topics. These videos come with English and German subtitles edited in.
You can also use language programs that take German videos and add captions. For example, the FluentU program uses authentic German videos with interactive captions to help you learn. The captions can be used to find out more information about any word as you watch: If you click on a word, you’ll see an in-context definition, pronunciation guide, other video and sentence examples, a memorable word and brief grammar information.
If you want to take it up a notch, you can use movies or shows on streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, which often include captions. While you won’t be able to watch both the English and German captions at the same time, you can still use them to learn new words and cultural cues.
Get some reading practice while discovering new words
Written literature doesn’t always have to be from top-notch news sources like Die Zeit to be valuable. When it comes to learning new German personality words, you’re more likely to pick them out of opinionated articles, columns and magazines.
Wherever judgement is passed on people is a great place to start combing through. This way, you can also get a sense for the context when vocabulary words are used. The following are some well-known German publications with tons of material online to get you started:
- Brigitte: Brigitte is your staple women’s beauty and lifestyle magazine. Found online and at newsstands in the German-speaking world, you can read anything from fitness tips to your daily horoscope.
- Bento: Bento is a spin-off of Spiegel, one of Germany’s most reputed news sources, which targets the young internet crowd. This site tackles news stories and various topics of interest to the younger generations. To find some German personality words, check out the Meinung (opinion) section.
- Neon: Neon is a monthly magazine with both print copies and an online edition, geared toward the 20-year-old to 35-year-old crowd. Some topics include relationships, travel, psychology and fashion. In addition, this is a fantastic place full of opinionated columns!
- Bunte: Bunte will keep you up-to-date on the latest celebrity stories and royal drama. Read all about what the press has to say about these stars’ personalities in this tabloid-style magazine.
Use these resources either as a place to pinpoint new words to or try finding some of the words listed below in action!
Just a single word can pack a ton of meaning and reveal mountains about how people react in situations, go about their days and interact with others. You can use these words to describe your least favorite coworker, the love of your life or a lesser-known acquaintance.
The list below is organized into positive, neutral, negative and slang subsections so you can quickly pick out the perfect German personality word depending on your feelings.
Positive Begriffe (positive terms)
- Süß, niedlich (cute)
- Freundlich (friendly)
- Fleißig (hardworking)
- Witzig (witty, funny)
- Großzügig (generous)
- Klug (smart)
- Zuverlässig (dependable, trustworthy)
- Kreativ (creative)
- Ehrgeizig (ambitious)
- Geduldig (patient)
- Froh (happy)
- Behilflich (helpful)
- Aufrichtig (sincere)
- Begabt (talented)
- Selbstbewusst (confident)
Neutrale Adjektive (neutral adjectives)
- Gesprächig (talkative)
- Sportlich (athletic)
- Schüchtern (shy)
- Energisch (energetic)
- Ruhig (quiet, calm)
- Abenteuerlustig (adventurous)
- Abergläubisch (superstitious)
- Spontan (spontaneous)
- Selbständig (independent)
- Exzentrisch (eccentric)
- Eigenartig (unique)
- Realistisch (realistic)
- Introvertiert (introverted)
- Extrovertiert (extroverted)
- Künstlerisch (artistic)
Negative Beschreibungen (negative descriptions)
- Blöd, dumm, doof (stupid, dumb)
- Bescheuert, verrückt (nuts)
- Sauer (annoyed)
- Gierig (greedy)
- Gemein (mean)
- Deprimiert (depressed)
- Eitel (vain)
- Faul (lazy)
- Aggressiv (aggressive)
- Egoistisch (egotistical)
- Eifersüchtig (jealous)
- Arrogant (arrogant)
- Unfreundlich (unfriendly)
- Eingebildet (conceited)
- Angeberisch (show-off)
Slang words to use with your Kumpels (buddies)
German slang is a breed of its own, filled with inventive words mostly used by the young and trendy for only a few years at a time until it gets stale. Jugendsprache (youth language) is distinctly recognized as its own “sublanguage” in German.
In fact since 2008, the German language publisher Langenscheidt has awarded a single word annually with the honor of Jugendwort des Jahres (youth word of the year).
Here are just a few hip slang personality words that may get you in with the youngsters.
- Geil (awesome, wicked, sexy): Geil is an oldie, but a goodie, transcending years as a multifaceted slang word that looks like it’s here to stay. Pronounced gah-eel as one syllable, the word can be used to describe anything from a fantastic situation to a smoking hot vixen on the street. Word to the wise: This word originally means “sexually aroused,” so caution is advised when using it in questionable contexts.
- Assi (antisocial, not sociable): As a shortening of Asozial (antisocial), Assi can mean someone who is unfriendly, socially awkward, avoids interactions or is simply a person everyone has agreed to dislike. It can also mean that they’re really in with the wrong crowd, and that their antisocial behavior stretches to lengths such as vandalism and dealing drugs. It’s important to listen to the context; the concept may seem a bit high school but it could also be a warning.
- Der Waschlappen/feigling (wimp, sissy): Waschlappen and Feigling don’t need much of an explanation. Be light with your accusations, however. If someone doesn’t want to skydive off an airplane, it’s no occasion to call them a Feigling!
- Der Streber (overachiever, nerd): The Streber is a bit more difficult to directly translate to English, and it exists most commonly in the faraway high school universe, for the most part. This person is incredibly smart, a bookworm and teacher’s pet. But unlike the quiet, humble nerd, the Streber announces his accomplishments for the world to know. The verb form streben means “to strive,” hence the title bestowed on the one who strives to be perfect in all academic disciplines.
- Der Klugscheißer/Besserwisser (know-it-all): In a simple segue we land on the know-it-all, who announces tidbits and facts for the betterment of those unfortunate enough to be listening. This word is best reserved for all the wise guys in your acquaintance.
Just remember that slang words should be reserved for informal situations with friends or family, and tend to sound a bit harsher than the normal German descriptive personality word.
To stay on everyone’s safe side, it’s best to stick with positive or neutral adjectives that carry pleasant connotations.
The last thing you want in any new language is to offend others!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Somehow, Germans have built up a world-renowned reputation for their lack of humor and rather dry conversations. This, however, doesn’t seem to be represented in all the words the German language has to describe personality. In fact, the language itself is far from being dry, it is quite colorful. As in many other cultures, Germans can be energetic, humorous, motivated, artistic, friendly and cheerful and there are some basic German words used to describe a German person.
This is a list of German adjectives that can be used to describe the German personality.
- Froh means happy,
- Gemein means, arrogant,
- Witzig means funny,
- Süß, niedlich means cute,
- Freundlich means friendly,
- Fleißig means hardworking,
- Großzügig means generous,
- Klug means smart,
- Zuverlässig means dependable and trustworthy,
- Kreativ means creative,
- Ehrgeizig means ambitious,
- Geduldig means patient,
- Behilflich means helpful,
- Aufrichtig means sincere,
- Angeberisch means to show-off.
Slang words in German
German slang is mostly used by younger and trendier people and slang words tend to span quite a short period of time and then they become stale and are replaced by new words. Jugendsprache or youth language is recognized by a German person as a German “sublanguage.”
Langenscheidt, the German language publisher, each year gives out an award for Jugendwort des Jahres, which means the youth word of that year.
Here is an interesting list of German adjectives and German descriptive words below:
- Geil, which means awesome, sexy or wicked, sexy is quite an old word which still remains in use. It’s pronounced as gah-eel and can be used to describe a variety of things ranging from a great situation to a hot smoking vixen on a street.
- Assi, which means antisocial or not sociable can mean somebody who is socially clumsy, unfriendly, deliberately avoids interacting or is a person everybody has come to the agreement should not be like.
- Der Waschlappen/feigling, meaning a wimp or being a sissy. For example, put into a context if a German person is at the last minute afraid to jump out of a plane with a parachute, feigling could be used to describe that person.
- Der Streber, meaning a nerd or overachiever isn’t so easy to translate directly into English. This German person is both incredibly smart, even a bookworm and at times a teacher’s pet.
- Der Klugscheißer/Besserwisser is a know-it-all who frequently announces snippets of information and facts for anyone who is unfortunate to be in earshot.
German personality adjectives should be used in informal situations with both family and friends and to stay safe the speaker should stick to neutral or positive basic German words.
FRIEND! Around the world, this simple word is used as an expression of companionship, camaraderie, loyalty, support, trust and good times. Yes, it may appear as a straightforward word, yet it holds so much of meaning for almost everyone. This word is said an infinite number of times each day in a plethora of situations across cultures, traditions, and backgrounds. Every language has a way of expressing friendship out loud and since you’re looking for another word for friend, you’ve certainly come to the right place! Continue reading to discover more than 100 ways to say friend in different languages of the world.
True friends are never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart
The dictionary defines friend as a person you like and enjoy being with. Someone that you feel affection towards.
A person that you have met repeatedly and who has a passing knowledge or understanding of and with you. Another individual who provides help and support.
While the world may seem to be filled with many differences, friendship and fellowship are universal. Many of us have friends located all over the world, whether we met them online or during past travels. Why not impress these friends or make new ones by knowing how to greet them in the language of their country. Below you will find out how to say friend in any and every country.
Get ready to impress your friends, amigos, freunde, péngyǒumen, rafikis, and dost around the world.
Do you know:
July 30th is International Day of Friendship and the ideal opportunity for celebrating our friends around the world
The word friend is guaranteed to induce feelings of closeness and joy. A simple way of making someone feel loved, acknowledged, and appreciated.
A friend is someone who gets you, who you can talk to about anything, someone you can share your thoughts and problems with. A friend is another person who shares the same interests as you. Someone you can have new experiences with, like trying weird foods, or discovering beautiful places, or simply watching the sun rise together.
There’s no shortage of words for friend and ways to call someone a friend in many languages around the world. The words may be different, but the good intentions and intended joy are one and the same, with infinite feelings no matter which country you may find yourself in. You can learn a lot about a region and its inhabitants from the way the locals express themselves and a benefit of traveling is this experience gained.
It’s always a good idea to know a few words in the language of the country you’re exploring. Start conversations, impress the locals, and make a new best friend by learning these other words too:
- HELLO in every language of the world
- I LOVE YOU in different languages of the world
- CHEERS in all languages of the world
- GOODBYE in other languages
- THANK YOU in another language
- GOOD MORNING in a different language
- GOOD NIGHT in different languages
- LIGHT in different languages
Friendship around the World
Do you know:
Where does the term FRIEND come from?
The etymological origin of the word friend is from
Old English frēond, which meant to love or to favour. It is of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriend and German Freund, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘to love.’
The word for friend in Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish is also derived from the verb to love. The root of ‘ven’ in Danish means beautiful. However, in Arabic, the root of the word ‘Sadeeq’ (from Sadaqa صدق), means truth. This is from a saying, “who is your friend? The one who tells you the truth.”
Friend, of Anglo-Saxon origin, was name for a person who was considered to be very good-natured, considerate, and neighborly. During the Middle Ages people would use this word when they referred to their relatives or their kinsmen.
Good friends are like stars.
You don’t always see them, but you know they’re always there
Continue reading to discover the complete list of friends in all languages. Copy and paste, save to your phone, or print out and stick it in your passport. I’ll be continually updating this as I discover other different languages for friend.
Be sure to bookmark this post so that it’ll always be on hand for when the moment strikes.
If you wanted to call every person in the world a friend, you would need to learn those individual words from over 7,000 languages.
Fortunately, just by reading this guide I have put together for you, you will be able to say friendship in different languages to more than 90% of the world’s population. So whether you find yourself in Africa, Europe, Asia, or America, I’ve got you covered, my beautiful friend.
A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out
Other Creative and Fun Ways to Say Friend
In addition to saying the word friend in other languages, here are ten other words for friend in English that you could use:
- mate
- confidante
- companion
- comrade
- buddy
- chum
- pal
- ally
- homeboy
- bestie
FRIEND IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Calling someone a close or best friend is sure to bring a huge smile to their face.
Here’s your ultimate guide on how to say friend in a different language.
Over 100 ways to acknowledge friendship in the most spoken languages of the world.
With pronunciation. In brackets you will find how to pronounce the word as it can often be difficult to know how to vocalise the word just by reading or looking at the direct translation.
Are you ready to take a trip around the world and learn how to convey some friendly vibes?
I have included the word for friend in every language I could think of. If you don’t spot your language, let me know (in the comments) and I will be happy to add it to this list.
Scroll to the bottom for a little bonus! ↓↓
Speaking of best friends in different languages, describe your great love for traveling with friends with these: 50 fun words for travel
How do I say FRIEND in another language? Different languages for friendship?
Find every language in the world here ↓
Let’s get into it…
Here’s how you say “friend” in:
Afrikaans
- vriend
— is the Afrikaans word for friend - vriendskap
— friendship in Afrikaaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language of Southern Africa mostly derived from Dutch. It developed as Dutch settlers and indigenous African mixed languages beginning in the 17th century. Today, an estimated 15 to 23 million people call Afrikaans their mother tongue. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia and can also be heard in parts of Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Albanian
- miq
— is the Albanian word for friend - miqësi
— word for friendship in Albanian
Albanian is an Indo-European language, spoken mainly in Albania and Kosovo, though it is also spoken in other areas of the Balkans. With about 7.5 million speakers, it comprises an independent branch within the Indo-European languages and is not closely related to any other language in Europe.
Alsatian
- freund
— is the Alsatian word for friend
Alsatian is a West Germanic language spoken by around 900,000 people, mainly in the Alsace region of northeastern France.
Amharic
- ጓደኛ gwadenya
— is the Amharic word for friend - ጓደኝነት gwadenyineti
Amharic is a Semitic language and the official language of Ethiopia. It can also be heard in Egypt and Eritrea, as well as in Israel, Sweden, Canada and the United States.
Arabic
- صديق sadiq
— the word for friend in Arabic - رفيق rafiq
- sadaqa
— means friendship in Arabic
Arabic (العربية) is a Semitic language spoken by over 420 million people as their first language in countries in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and other parts of the Middle East. Many more people can also understand it as a second language. Modern Standard Arabic is the liturgical language for 1.6 billion Muslims and is the official written form of the language with the Arabic alphabet, which is written from right to left.
Aragonese
- amigo
— masculine version of friend in Aragonese - amiga
— feminine form
Aragonese is a language in the Romance language family that is native to Spain and spoken by just over 10, 000 people in the Pyrenees valley of Aragon.
Armenian
- ընկեր ynker
— friend in Armenian - բարեկամություն barekamut’yun
— friendship in Armenian
Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken in the Republic of Armenia, as well as in large communities of Armenian diaspora by around 6.7 million people.
Assamese
- বান্ধৱ
— friend in Assamese
Assamese is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the northeast Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. Native to India and Bangladesh, it is spoken by over 23 million people.
Asturian
- amigo
— friend in Asturian - amiga
Asturian is a West Iberian Romance language spoken by around 400,000 people in Asturias, Spain.
Azerbaijani
- dost
— means friend in Azerbaijani - dostum
- dostluq
— the word for friendship in Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani or Azeri is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan by its 8.8 million native speakers. It is also widely spoken in Northern Iran and to a small extent in southern Dagestan, the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, eastern Turkey, in Shia cities of Iraq, like Karbala and Kirkuk. The language is a Turkic language and is highly intelligible with modern-day Turkish.
Basque
- laguna
— is the Basque word that translates as friends - adiskidetasuna
Basque (euskara) is a language spoken in the Basque Country (Gipuzkoa, Araba, Bizkaia) and Navarra (in Spain) as well as in the French Basque Country (Labourd, Soule and Basse-Navarre). Linguistically, Basque is a language isolate and is unrelated to the other languages of Europe.
Bavarian / Austrian German
- to say friend in Bavarian use:
Spezl
Bavarian is a regional dialect of German spoken in the German state of Bavaria, western Austria, and Northeastern Italy by over 14 million people. It uses German grammar, but takes several root words from Latin.
Belarusian
- сябар siabar
— is the Belarusina word for friend - siabroŭstva
— friendship in Belarusian
Belarusian is the official language of Belarus. This East Slavic language is also spoken in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.
Bengali
- বন্ধু bandhu
— The Bengali noun for friend - bandhutba
— means friendship in Bengali
Bengali বাংলা is the only official language of Bangladesh, one of the 22 official languages of India, and the sixth most spoken language in the world. It is spoken as a first language by the majority of the population in Bangladesh, as well as people in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Bodo
- suthru
Bodo बर’/बड़ is the Sino-Tibetan language spoken primarily by the Bodo people of Northeast India, Nepal and Bengal. It is official language of the Bodoland Autonomous region and co-official language of the state of Assam in India.
Bosnian
- prijatelj
— is the Bosnian word for friend - prijateljstvo
— friendship pronounced (pre-yah-tell-svo)
Bosnian, a south Slavic language of the Indo-European family, is the official language of Bosnia and is essentially the same language as Croatian and Serbian. All three languages used to be known as Serbo-Croatian before the break-up of Yugoslavia.
Brazilian Portuguese
- amigo
—is the word for male friend in Brazilian Portuguese - amiga
— female friend
Brazilian Portuguese (Português do Brasil) is the variety of Portuguese dialect spoken in Brazil. It is spoken by virtually all of the 200 million inhabitants of Brazil and spoken widely across the Brazilian diaspora. European Portuguese differs from the Brazilian variety in pronunciation, as well as in some vocabulary.
Breton
- kamarad
— is the word for friend in Breton
Breton is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language spoken in Brittany in the northwest of France.
Bulgarian
- приятел priyatel
— is the Bulgarian word for friend - приятелство priyatelstvo
— the word for friendship in Bulgarian
Bulgarian is a South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the country’s only official language and Bulgarian is written with Cyrillic.
Burmese
- သူငယ်ချင်း suungaalhkyinn
— friend in Burmese - ခင်မင်မှု hkainmainmhu
Burmese is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar where it is an official language and the language of the Bamar people, the country’s principal ethnic group.
Cambodian Khmer
- មិត្តភក្តិ mitt phokte
— means friend in Khmer
Khmer is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With over 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language.
Catalan
- amic
— is the word for friend in Catalan, masculine - amiga
— feminine form of friend - amistat
— friendship in Catalan
Catalan is a Western Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern of modern Spain. It is the only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia.
Cebuano
- higala
Cebuano, also known as Bisaya or Binisaya, is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines region in Central Visayas, western parts of Eastern Visayas and the majority of Mindanao.
Chamorro
- amiga
- amigu
- ga’chong
Chamorro is an Austronesian language, the native and spoken language of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.
Cheyenne
- navésé’e
— this is the Cheyenne for friend, only said by a female, of a female friend - néséne
— said by a male of a male friend
Cheyenne is the Native American language spoken by the Cheyenne people of the United States. It is part of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne are a Native American tribe that live in the Great Plains of Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.
Chichewa
- mnzanga
Chichewa, also known as Nyanja, is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa. It is the national language of Malawi and is also spoken in Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Chinese Cantonese
How to say friend in Chinese Cantonese:
- 朋友
— the Chinese word for friend
pronounced (pang you)
Cantonese is a variety of Chinese originating from the city of Guangzhou and its surrounding area in Southeastern China. Belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, it is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese dialect group, which has about 68 million native speakers.
Chinese Mandarin
How do you say friends in Chinese Mandarin:
- 朋友 Peng You
— the Chinese word for friend
pronounced (pong yoh) - 友谊 Yǒuyì
— is Chinese for friendship
Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the official languages of Singapore. Mandarin is often placed first in lists of languages by number of native speakers with almost a billion speakers.
Corsican
- amicu
Corsican is a Romance language from the Italo-Dalmatian family that is spoken predominantly on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Corsican is closely related to Tuscan and to the Florentine-based Italian.
Croatian
- prijatelj
— is the Croatian word for friend - prijateljstvo
— friendship in Croatian, pronounced (pre-yah-tell-svo)
Croatian or Hrvatski is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, some parts of Serbia, and the neighbouring countries by about 5.5 million people.
Czech
- přitelé
— the word for friend in Czech - přátelství
— friendship in Czech
Czech is a Western Slavic language which is mutually intelligible with Slovak. It is mainly spoken in the Czech Republic with over 10,5 million speakers.
Danish
- ven
— is the word for friend in Danish - venskab
— friendship in Danish
Danish is a Scandinavian language and the only official language of the Kingdom of Denmark. Closely related to Swedish and Norwegian, it is spoken in Denmark and in some parts of Greenland and northern Germany.
Dhivehi
- rahumaiytheriyaa
— is the word for friend in Dhivehi
Dhivehi or Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language spoken on the islands of Maldives where it is an official language.
Dogri
- साथन
Dogri is a Northern Indo-Aryan language spoken by around five million people in India, mainly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dutch
- vriend
— the Dutch word meaning friend - vriendje
— the plural form of friend - vriendschap
— friendship in Dutch
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by about 27 million people world-wide mostly in the Netherlands and northern Belgium.
Dzongkha
- charo
Dzonkha or Bhutanese is the sole official and national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. This Sino-Tibetan language is spoken by over half a million people in Bhutan and is written with the Tibetan alphabet.
English
- Friend
English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in Anglo-Saxon England in the early Middle Ages. It is spoken in many countries around the world with over 375 million native speakers. English is the second most spoken language, and the most international language in the world.
Estonian
- sõber
— is the Estonian word for friend - sõprus
— friendship in Estonian, pronounced (suh-pruhs)
Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken as the official language in Estonia. It is closely related to Finnish.
Faroese
- vinur
— is the word for best friend in Faroese
Faroese is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by Faroe Islanders, residing on the Faroe Islands and in other areas, mainly Denmark.
Farsi / Persian
- دوست dost
- رفیق rafeeq
— the Persian word meaning friends
Persian is an ancient language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. It is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.
Fijian
- itau
— this is the Fijian word for friend
Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family. It is an official language of Fiji spoken by some 350,000–450,000 ethnic Fijians as a native language.
Finnish
- ystävä
— is the Finnish word for friend, pronounced (oo-stah-vah) - ystävyys
— Finnish for friendship (oo-stah-voo)
Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language spoken only in Finland as the official language and by ethnic Finns elsewhere in Scandinavia.
Flemish
- vriend
— is the Flemish word for friend - maat
Flemish is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language, native to the historical region of Flanders in northern Belgium. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch, Belgian Dutch, or Southern Dutch spoken by over 6 million people.
French
- ami
— is the French masculine word for friend
pronounced like (ah-me) - amie
— feminine form of friend in French - amitié
— the word for friendship in French, pronounced (ah-me-tee-eh)
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family spoken by over 354 million people in France and around the world. It is the third most spoken language in Europe, the official language of 29 countries, spoken in parts of Africa, North America, and South America.
Frisian
- freon
The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany.
Galician
- amigo
Galician is a Romance language spoken by around 2.4 million people in Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain, where it is the official language.
Georgian
- მეგობარო megobari
- მეგობრობა megobroba
— friendship in Georgian
Georgian is the official language of Georgia and the country’s most widely spoken language with over 4.1 million people.
German
- freund
— the German noun that translates to friend, masculine form - freundin
— feminine form of friend in German - freundschaft
— friendship in German
German Deutsch is the official language of both Germany and Austria and one of the three official languages of Switzerland. German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family. One of the major languages of the world, German is a native language to almost 100 million people worldwide and the most widely spoken native language in the European Union.
Gilbertese
- raou
Gilbertese, also called Kiribati, is an Austronesian Oceanic language spoken mainly in Kiribati, but also on the islands of Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Greek
- φίλος Fílos
— word for friend in Greek, pronounced (fee-yohs) - filía
— friendship in Greek
Greek (ελληνικά) belongs to the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Greece and Cyprus an an official language. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. There are about 13.1 million speakers of Greek worldwide and it is recognised as a minority language in Albania, Armenia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.
Greenlandic
- ikinngut
— is the Greenlandic word for friend
Greenlandic falls under the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by around 57,000 Greenlandic Inuit people in Greenland.
Gujarati
- મિત્ર mitra
— is the Gujarati word for friend - મિત્રતા mitratā
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is part of the greater Indo-European language family.
Haitian Creole
Say friends in Creole:
- zanmi
- amitye
Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen)) is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12 million people worldwide and the only language of most Haitians. Along with French it is one of the official languages of Haiti.
Hausa
- aboki
- abota
— friendship in Hausa
Hausa language, the most important indigenous bridge language in West and Central Africa, spoken as a first or second language by about 40–50 million people. It belongs to the Western branch of the Chadic language family within the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. It is spoken mainly in northern Nigeria and Niger, and also in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Germany, Ghana, Sudan and Togo.
Hawaiian
How to say friend in Hawaiian:
- hoa
- makamaka
- aloha
— to say friendship use aloha
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the State of Hawaii and here are the best words about Hawaii to know.
Hebrew
- חבר yadid
— is the Hebrew word for friend - חֲבֵרוּת
— friendship in Hebrew
Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language spoken by over nine million people worldwide. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors. It is written using its own script from right to left.
Hindi
- दोस्त Dosth
- मित्र Mitra
- यार Yaar
— are the Hindi words for friends - mitratā
— friendship in Hindi
Hindi (हिन्दी) is an Indo-European language spoken in India, Nepal, and throughout the Indian diaspora. Hindi is descended from Sanskrit, sometimes called “the mother of all languages.” While there are 22 official languages and over 1,000 dialects of India, Hindi and English take precedence in government affairs. It is a link-language for over half of India’s population.
Hmong
- phooj ywg
Hmong is a Hmong-Mien language spoken by about 2.6 million people in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, USA, and French Guiana.
Hopi
- wikwawa wikwawa
Hopi is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people in northeastern Arizona, USA.
Hungarian
- barát
— this is the word for friend in Hungarian - barátság
— friendship in Hungarian
Hungarian is a Uralic language of the Ugric branch spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union.
Icelandic
- vinur
— is the Icelandic word for friend - vinátu
— friendship in Icelandic
Icelandic (íslenska) is a North Germanic language spoken in Iceland as its official language. It’s most closely related to Faroese and Western Norwegian and has around 314,000 speakers. The language is more conservative than most other Western European languages.
Igbo
- enyi
Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria with around 45 million speakers and over 20 dialects.
Indonesian Bahasa
- teman
— the Indonesian noun for friend
Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia.With over 230 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is a group of varieties of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as the common language in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia uses the Latin alphabet system and Arabic numerals.
Inuktitut
- piqatialuk
— is the word for best friend in Inuktitut (pi-qa-TIA-luk)
Inuktitut is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Arctic territories and the topmost span of North America including Alaska and Northern Canada.
Irish
- cara
— this is the all-purpose word for friend n Irish, pronounced (kor-juhs) - cairdeas
— friendship in Irish (kor-juhs)
Irish (Gaeilge) is one of the three Goidelic languages, along with Scottish Gaelic and Manx. This Goidelic branch together with the Brythonic branch (Welsh, Cornish and Breton) form the Celtic language family.
Italian
How to say friend in Italian:
- amico
— is the Italian noun for male friend, and it’s pronounced as (ah-ME-co) - amica
— feminine form of friend in Italian - amicizia
— the word for friendship in Italian
Italian (Italiano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family spoken by over 90 million people, the vast majority of which are in Italy, Sicily and Sardinia. It is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City.
Japanese
- 友達 tomodachi
— the word for friend in Japanese, pronounced (to -mo-da-chi)
written as ともだち or トモダチ - 友人 yûjin
- 友情 yūjō
— is how you say friendship in Japanese, pronounced (yoo-joo)
Japanese (日本語 Nihongo) is an East Asian language of the Japonic language family. It is spoken by about 125 million people, mostly in Japan, where it is the official and national language.
Jamaican
- friend
— is a Jamaican saying to express friendship
Jamaican Patois, often also referred to as Jamaican Creole, is an English-based creole language with West African influences spoken mainly in Jamaica. Belonging to the English Creole language family, it is spoken by the the majority of Jamaicans with over 3 million native speakers.
Javanese
- kanca
— is the word for friend in Javanese
Javanese is the language of the Javanese people of the island of Java, in Indonesia that is the native language of more than 98 million people.
Kannada
- gelati ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ
— is the Kannada word for friends
Kannada, spoken by nearly 45 million native speakers, is a Dravidian language of the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, and by significant linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and abroad.
Kazakh
- дос dos
— friend in Kazakh - достық dostıq
Kazakh is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia and the official language of Kazakhstan. The language comprises 21 million native speakers including regions of Bayan-Ulgii in Mongolia and the Dzungarian region of Xinjiang, China.
Kikuyu
- mũrata
Kikuyu or Gĩkũyũ is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family that is spoken as a first language by over 6.6 million Agĩkũyũ people in Kenya.
Kinyarwanda
- shuti
Kinyarwanda, an official language of Rwanda, is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family that is spoken by at least 10 million people in Rwanda, DR Congo, and Uganda.
Korean
Friend in Korean:
- 친구 chingu
— friend in Korean pronounced (chin-goo) - 우정 ujeon
— friendship in Korean, pronounced (oo-djong)
Korean, an East Asian language, is the official language of South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) spoken by more than 75 million people.
Kurdish
- heval
Kurdish is spoken by about 30 million Kurds in western Asia including parts of Kurdistan, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. It is one of the Indo-Iranian languages, ranks as the third largest Iranian language, after Persian and Pashto.
Kyrgyz
- дос dos
— friend in Kyrgyz - достук dostuk
Kyrgyz is a member of the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family spoken by over 4 million speakers mainly in Kyrgyzstan, and also in China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Lao
- ເພື່ອນ pheuon
- ມິດຕະພາບ midtaphab
— friendship in Lao
Lao is the main language of Laos. It is a Kra–Dai language serving as a common language among all citizens of Laos, who speak approximately 90 other languages, many of which are unrelated to Lao. Modern Lao is heavily influenced by the Thai language and comprises over 30 million native speakers.
Latin
- amicus
— is the Latin word for male friend - amica
— is the Latin word for female friend
Latin was the dominant language of the Roman Empire from 6th century BC to 600 AD. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin evolved into the various languages that we know today. Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian all consider Latin as their parent tongue. Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Latvian
- draugs
— translates as friend in Latvian - draudzība
— the word for friendship in Latvian
Latvian (latviešu valoda) is an Indo-European Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the official language of Latvia and one of the official languages of the European Union.
Lebanese
- sahbe
— is the Lebanese word for friend - rfiki
Lebanese is a variety of North Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon. With significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages it is spoken by over 5,7 million native speakers.
Limburgish
- vriend
Limburgish is a member of the East Low Franconian group of the Germanic languages considered a variety of German or Dutch by many people. It is spoken by around 1.6 million people in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Lingala
- moninga
Lingala is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo by over 70 million people.
Lithuanian
- draugas
— is the word for friend in Lithuanian - draugystė
— friendship in Lithuanian
Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba) is an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region as the official language of Lithuania. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union spoken by just under 3 million native speakers. The language is one of the oldest in the world.
Luxembourgish
- Frënd
Luxembourgish is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 390,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
Luganda
- mukwano
— friend in Luganda, (moo-kwa-no)
Luganda, a Bantu language, is an official language of Uganda along with English and Swahili. It is spoken primarily in Kampala, but may be understood in much of the country and in the African Great Lakes region.
Macedonian
- пријател prijatel
- пријателство prijatelstvo
— friendship in Macedonian
Macedonian, the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia, is a south Slavic language spoken as a first language by 2 million people.
Malagasy
- namana
— friend and friendship in Malagasy
Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar belonging to the Austronesian Malayo-Polynesia family of languages spoken by 25 million people.
Malay
- kawan
— is the Malay word for friend - persahabatan
— friendship in Malay
Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is an Austronesian language spoken as the sole official language of Malaysia and Brunei. It is also heard in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand at a total of 250 – 300 million speakers.
Malayalam
- സുഹൃത്ത് suhr̥tt
— is the word for friends in Malayalam (su-hu-ru-tth) - സൗഹൃദം sahr̥daṁ
— friendship in Malayalam
Malayalam (മലയാളം) belongs to the Dravidian language family, spoken mostly in the Southern Indian states of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Around 36 million people use this language, which is one of the 22 official languages of India.
Maltese
- habib
— is how you say friend in Maltese
Maltese, a language of central Semitic origin written in the Latin script, is the national language of Malta. It is spoken by around 420,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino. The Maltese language developed from Sicilian Arabic, Over the centuries, it has incorporated many words derived from English, Italian and French.
Māori
- hoa
— friend in Māori
Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. it has also gained recognition as one of New Zealand’s official languages.
Marathi
- मित्र mitra
- मैत्री maitrī
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 83.1 million Marathi people of Maharashtra, India. It is the official language and co-official language in the Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India, respectively, and is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.
Marshallese
- motta
— is the Marshallese word for friend
Marshallese, also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands by about 44,000 people. It is an official language of the Marshall Islands, along with English, and is used as the language of instruction in most primary schools.
Mongolian
- найз naiz
— the word for friend in Mongolian - нөхөрлөл nökhörlöl
— friendship in Mogolian
Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely-spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It is an Altaic language spoken by approximately 5 million people in Mongolia, China, Afghanistan and Russia.
Moroccan Arabic
- صاحب saheb
— male friend - صاحبة sabha
— female friend
Moroccan Arabic, also known as Darija, is a form of vernacular Arabic spoken in Morocco. It is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, with over 30 million native speakers.
Nahuatl
- cnīuh
Nahuatl is a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It was the language of the Aztecs and the Toltecs. Variations of Nahuatl are spoken by around 1.7 million Nahua people of Central Mexico and the USA and Nahuatl remains the most widely-spoken group of Native American languages in North America.
Nauruan
- dañan
Nauruan is an Austronesian language, spoken natively on the island country of Nauru by around 6,000 people.
Navajo
- shik’is
— is the general Navajo word for friends - alah
— friend of the opposite gender - akis
— friend of the same gender
Navajo is an American Indian language of the Athabascan family, spoken by around 170, 000 Navajo people in the Southwestern United States regions of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.
Ndebele
- umngane
— is the Ndebele word for friend
Ndebele, an African language of the Nguni group of Bantu languages, is spoken by around 5 million Northern Ndebele people of Zimbabwe.
Nepali
- साथी mitra
— is the Nepali word for friend - मित्रता mitratā
— friendship in Nepali
Nepali (नेपाली), is an Indo-Aryan language of the sub-branch of Eastern Pahari written in Devanagari script It is the sole official language of Nepal and one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. While most Nepalese people speak at least some Nepali, there are more than 100 different languages and dialects spoken in Nepal.
Neapolitan
Friend in Neapolitan
- amico
Neapolitan is a Romance language of the Italo-Dalmatian group spoken across much of southern Italy by 6 million people. It is related to but generally not mutually intelligible with Italian.
Northern Sotho / Sepedi
- mogwera
Northern Sotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages. It is spoken by about 4.2 million people in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Norwegian
The word for friend in Norwegian:
- venn
- vennskap
— friendship in Norwegian
Norwegian (norsk) is a Germanic language derived from Old Norse spoken primarily in Norway by over 5 million people where it is the official language.
Odia
- इआर
Odia is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha where it is the official language.
Oromo
- fira-i
Oromo is a Cushitic language spoken by about 30 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. It is the third largest language in Africa.
Papiamento
Friednship in Papiamento:
- amigu
— male friend - amiga
— female friend
Papiamento is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean by less than 500,00 native speakers. It is the most-widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having official status in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.
Pashto
- ملګرې malgarey
- دوست dost
— means friends in Pashto
Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European family spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. It is an official language of Afghanistan along with Dari.
Polish
Say the word friend in Polish:
- przyjaciel
— male friend in Polish - przyjaciółka
— female friend in Polish - przyjaźń
— friendship in Polish, pronounced (pshey-ah-szuhn)
Polish (polski) is a West Slavic language spoken by about 45 million people. Said to be one of the hardest languages to learn, it is the official language of Poland. It is understood and can be used for communication in the western parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania.
Portuguese
- amigo
— the Portuguese masculine noun for friend. The pronunciation is (ah-me-go) - amiga
— feminine form of friend in Portuguese - amigos
— the plural form of friend in Portuguese - amizade
— friendship in Portuguese, pronounced (ah-mih-zah-dje)
Portuguese (português) is a Romance language spoken as the official language of Portugal and Brazil. It is also the official language of Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé e Principe, Angola, Mozambique, and the co-official language of East Timor, and Macau. There are around 200 million native Portuguese speakers.
Punjabi
- ਮਿਤ੍ਰ mitra
- ਦੋਸਤ dost
— the Punjabi word for friend - dōsatī
— friendship in punjabi
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language with more than 130 million native speakers in the Indian subcontinent and around the world. It is the 10th most spoken language in the world.
Romanian
- prieten
— the Romanian word for friend - prietenie
— friendship in Romanian, pronounced (pree-eh-tehn-ee-ey)
Romanian (limba română) is a Balkan Romance language spoken by approximately 24–26 million people as a native language, primarily in Romania and Moldova, and by another 4 million people as a second language. Although it descended from Vulgar Latin, Romanian was influenced by Slavic and Greek languages in the Middle Ages. It is an official and national language of both Romania and Moldova.
Russian
- друг droog
— the Russian noun for friend, masculine form - padrooga подруга
— a female friend in Russian - prijátel
— you could also use this as friend in Russian - druzhba Дружба
— friendship in Russian
Russian is an East Slavic language spoken by 300+ million people worldwide. It is is an official language in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and many other people in Central Asia, the Baltic states, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe know it as a second language. Commonly written in Cyrillic, it is the 8th most widely spoken language in the world.
Samoan
- uo
— a commonly used word for friend in Samoan - faigauo
Samoan is the official language spoken in the Samoan Islands, which is made up of the Independent State of Samoa and the American Samoa. The language is the most spoken of the Polynesian language family with a total of 510,000 speakers worldwide.
Sanskrit
- mitra
— a commonly used word for friend in Sanskrit
Sanskrit is a 4,000-year-old classical language that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Known as ‘the mother of all languages,’ Sanskrit is the root of many, but not all, Indian languages. It is also the liturgical language of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Sanskrit has less than 15,000 native speakers at present and is mostly used by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies.
Sardinian
- amico
— a commonly used word for friend in Sardinian
Sardinian or Sard is a Romance language spoken by over 1.5 million inhabitants of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in Italy.
Scottish Gaelic
- caraid
Scots Gaelic is a Goidelic language of the Celtic and Indo-European language family, native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish.
Serbian
- пријатељу prijatelj
- пријатељство prijateljstvo
— friendship in Serbian
Serbian is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia by about 9 million people. Serbian is the official and main language of Serbia and Montenegro.
Sesotho
- motswalle
Sesotho (Sotho) is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho-Tswana group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language, South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages and in Zimbabwe where it is one of 16 official languages.
Shona
- shamwari
Shona, one of the most widely spoken Bantu languages, is the main language in Zimbabwe.
Sicilian
- amicu
Sicilian is a Romance language spoken by more than 4 million speakers on the island of Sicily in Italy.
Sindhi
- دوست
Sindhi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh and spoken by over 25 million Sindhi people.
Sinhala
- මිතුරා miturā
— friend in Sinhala - මිත්රත්වය mitratvaya
— friendship in Sinhala
Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 16 million Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka.
Slovak
- priateľ
— translates to friend in Slovak - priateľstvo
— friendship in Slovak
Slovak, the official language of Slovakia, is a West Slavic language where it is spoken by approximately 5.6 million people.
Slovenian
- prijatelj
— is the Slovenian word for friend - prijateljstvo
— friendship in Slovenian
Slovenian, an Indo-European language of the South Slavic language branch is the official and national language of Slovenia spoken by less than 3 million people.
Somali
- saaxiib
Somali, an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by over 16 million people, is an official language of Somalia, a national language in Djibouti, and a working language in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.
Spanish
A number of different words in Spanish are used to express the concept of friendship including:
- amigo
— a general term to use when you are referring to a friend in Spanish - amiga
— feminine form of friend in Spanish - amistad
— the word for friendship in Spanish
Spanish is the second most widely used language in the world natively spoken by more than 437 million people including Spain, most of Central and South America, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and the USA. There are over 21 countries in the world that have Spanish as their official language. It is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula.
Sundanese
- réréncangan
Sundanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 39 million people mainly in western Java in Indonesia. There are also speakers in Banten, Jakarta, parts of western Central Java and southern Lampung. It is the third most-spoken language in Indonesia.
Swahili
- rafiki
— is the Swahili word for friend - urafiki
— friendship in Swahili
Swahili is a Bantu languages spoken by the Swahili communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Swati
- umngane
Swati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swazi people. It is the official language of Swaziland (along with English) and since 1994 one of the nine indigenous languages to enjoy official recognition in South Africa. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million.
Swedish
- vän
- vännen
— the Swedish word for friend - vänskap
— friendship in Swedish, pronounced (vahn-skopp)
Swedish is a North Germanic language, closely related to Norwegian and Danish spoken by around 10 million people. A descendant of Old Norse, it is the national language of Sweden and the official language of the Åland Islands.
Swiss German
- fründ
— the Swiss German word for boyfriend or male friend - fründin
— the Swiss German word for girlfriend or female friend
Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch) is the collective name for the great variety of Upper German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, in parts of Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Alsace in France.
Tagalog Filipino
- kaibigan
— friend in filipino - pagkakaibigan
— friendship, pronounced as (pah-GEE-big)
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages alongside English.
Tahitian
- hoa
— is the Tahitian word for friend
Tahitian belongs to the Eastern Polynesian language group, spoken mainly on the Society Islands in French Polynesia and Bora Bora.
Tajik
- дуст doost
— friend in Tajik - дӯстӣ dūstī
Tajik is the main language of Tajikistan, closely related to Farsi and Kurdish. Since the late 1930s, it is written using a variant of the Cyrillic script.
Tamil
- நண்பன் nanban
— the general term for friend in Tamil (nan-pan)
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken in southern India, Sri Lanka and Singapore by about 67.5 million people. It can also be heard in Mauritius and Malaysia.
Tarifit
- amidi
Tarifit or Tarifit Berber is spoken by around 4 million speakers in Arrif (Northern Africa) and Europe.
Tatar
- дус
— friend in Tatar - дуслык
Tatar (татарча), the national language of the Tatars, is a Turkic language spoken mainly in the Russian republic of Tatarstan as well as Siberia by about 7 million people in Central Asia. It refers to the Volga-Kipchak Kipchak subgroup of the Turkic group of languages.
Telugu
- స్నేహితుడు Snehithu
— is the Telugu word meaning friend
Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the union territories of Puducherry by 75 million Telugu people.
Tetum
- belu or belo
— is the Tetum word meaning friend
Tetum is an official language of Timor-Leste belonging to the Austronesian language family and spoken by just under 400,000 people.
Thai
How to say friends in Thai:
- เพื่อน Pheụ̄̀xn
— is the Thai noun for friend - มิตรภาพ Mitrp̣hāph
— Thai word for friendship
Thai ภาษาไทย, the sole official and national language of Thailand, spoken by 50 million people, belongs to the Tai group of the Kra–Dai language family of Southeast Asia.
Tibetan
- mdza’ bshes (མཛའ་བཤེས)
— This is the Tibetan word for friend - grogs po (གྲོགས་པོ)
— can also be used
Tibetan is an official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The Tibetic languages are a cluster of Tibeto-Burman languages descended from Old Tibetan, spoken across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.
Tok Pisin
- wantok
— This is the Tok Pisin word for friend
Tok Pisin, more commonly known as New Guinea Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea, where it is an official language. It is the most widely used language in the country, spoken by around 120,000 people.
Tongan
- kaungame’a
— This is the Tongan word for friend
Tongan is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch mainly spoken in Tonga, where it is the official language.
Tsalagi Cherokee
- unalii
— friend pronounced (oo-nah-lee-ee) - olii
— friendship in Cherokee
Cherokee (Tsalagi) belongs to the Iroquoian language family. The Cherokee language is unique among Native American languages in that it is both a written and spoken language.
Tshivenda
- thama
Tshivenda is a language spoken by the Venda people of South Africa
Tsonga
- munghana
Tsonga is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people totalling 12 million people mainly in South Africa, but also Mozambique and Eswatini.
Tswana
- mmata
Tswana is a Bantu language spoken by about 4.4 million people in Bostwana, where it is the national and majority language, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The majority of speakers, about 3.6 million, live in South Africa, where the language is officially recognised.
Turkish
- arkadaş
— the Turkish word for friend. - dostluk or arkadaşlık
— friendship in Turkish
Turkish is a Turkic language believed to be of the Altaic language family spoken mainly in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus and other countries of the former Ottoman Empire by about 88 million people.
Turkmen
- dost
— friend in Turkmen - dostluk
Turkmen belongs to the Turkic language family and is spoken by around 11 million Turkmen people of Central Asia, mainly in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Tuvaluan
- taugasoa
— the Tuvaluan word for friend
Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language that is native to Tuvalu, Fiji, Kiribati, and Nauru.
Ukrainian
- друг druh
— the Ukrainian word for friend - druzhba
— friendship in Ukrainian
Ukrainian is an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine by about 51 million people.
Urdu
- دوست dost
— friend in Urdu - یار yaar
- دوستی
— friendship in Urdu
Urdu is the official national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is a member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages and is mutually intelligible with Hindi.
Uyghur
- دوستى
— friend in Uyghur - دوستلۇق
Uyghur is a Turkic language of the Karluk branch written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script. It is spoken primarily by 10 million Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
Uzbek
- do’stim
- do’stlik
— friendship in Uzbek
Uzbek is a Turkic language that is the official national language of Uzbekistan spoken by around 27 million people.
Vietnamese
How to express friendship in Vietnamese:
- bạn
- người bạn
— the word for friend in Vietnamese - hữu nghị
— friendship in Vietnamese, (hee-uhn-gyee)
Vietnamese is an Austroasiatic language spoken mainly in Vietnam, where it is the national and official language, by about 82 million people.
Welsh
- ffrind
— how to say friend in Welsh - cyfeillgarwch
— friendship in Welsh
Welsh is a Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken natively in Wales, and by some in England.
Woiwurrung
- bunji
Woiwurrung or Woiworung is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria.
Wolof
- xharit
— friend in Wolof, pronounced (hair-reet)
Wolof is a national language of Senegal, where it is spoken by approximately 5.4 million people as a first language. It belongs to the Atlantic group of the Niger-Congo language family and is the native language of the Wolof people.
Xhosa
- umhlobo
— is the Xhosa word for friend - ubuhlobo
— friendship in Xhosa
Xhosa is a Nguni Bantu language with click consonants and is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province.
Yiddish
- פרייַנד fraynd
- פרייַנדשאַפט frayndshaft
— friendship in Yiddish
Yiddish is the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews originating during the 9th century in Central Europe. Belonging to the Indo-European language family, it is spoken by 1.5 million people.
Yoruba
- ọ̀rẹ́
— friend and friendship in Yoruba
Yoruba is a pluricentric language spoken in West Africa with the number of speakers estimated between 30 and 40 million. It is a language spoken principally in Nigeria and Benin, with communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, other parts of Africa.
Zulu
- umngani
— is the word for friend in Zulu - ubungane
— friendship in Zulu
Zulu is a member of the Bantu/Nguni family of languages. It is one of the official languages of South Africa spoken by about 10 million people mainly in Zululand and northern Natal in South Africa and also in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Eswatini.
FRIENDSHIP in Different Languages — BONUS
–> Here a couple final ways on how to say friend in different languages
American Sign Language (ASL)
How to sign friend in American Sign Language:
- Hold out both of your index fingers hooked in a curved or ‘C’-like shape, while the rest of your fingers are folded into each palm.
Hold one hand with your hook index facing up, and hook the second index into the first. Then reverse the position for the hands and do it again.
American Sign Language is a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages, with grammar that differs from English, expressed by movements of the hands and face.
British Sign Language (BSL)
How to sign friend in British Sign Language:
- The primary hand holds the secondary hand.
This is followed by the hands making a small up and down movement in front of the body.
British Sign Language is a sign language used in the United Kingdom as the first or preferred language of some deaf people. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face, and head.
Dothraki
- okeo
— How to say friend in Dothraki
Dothraki is a constructed fictional language spoken by the Dothraki, a nomadic people in the fictional world of George Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation the Game of Thrones.
Elvish Sindarin
- mellon
— How to say friend in Elvish, masculine - melleth
— feminine form of friend in Sindarin
Elvish Sindarin is one of the fictional languages created by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin.
Espetanto
- amiko
Esperanto is an artificially constructed language and belongs to no linguistic family, with most of its vocabulary coming from the Romance languages. This phonetic language is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language.
Klingon
- jup
— this is the word for friend in Klingon
Klingon is a language that was made for the Klingons in the Star Trek movie. It is a constructed language, and not one that developed naturally. Only a few people can speak the Klingon language well enough to talk in it.
Minionese
- migo
Minionese spoken by the minions of the Despicable Me movie series appears to be a polyglot language which borrows words and grammatical rules from many different languages.
Na’vi
- ‘eylan
Na’vi is a constructed language, created for the fictional Na’vi, the humanoid inhabitants of the moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar.
Quenya
- meldo
— masculine form for friend in Quenya - melde
— feminine friend in Quenya
Quenya is one of the fictional languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien and used by the immortal Elves in the Lord of the Rings and as inspiration for countless travel quotes. Tolkien began devising the language around 1910 and restructured the grammar several times until Quenya reached its final state. The vocabulary remained relatively stable throughout the creation process.
LEARN THESE WORDS IN OTHER LANGUAGES TOO!
MY LOVE: LOVE in different languages
THANK YOU: thanks in every language of the world
HELLO: hi in every language of the world
GOOD MORNING: morning in different languages
GOOD NIGHT: night in different languages
GOOD BYE: Bye in different languages
CHEERS: Cheers in all languages
BEAUTIFUL: You are beautiful in all languages
Aaaaaaaand now you know how to say friendship in different languages and friend in all languages of the world! An expression of joy and an acknowledgement of someone that delights you and your senses.
OVER TO YOU GUYS!
What is the word for friendship in your language? Extra points if you can speak several languages… Let me know in the comments.
If you see an error here or if your language is missing from this list, please comment and let me know!
`Your friendly amigo,
Rai
I once read a nice term that’s used to describe friends that you’ve known ever since you were very little. It was something like «Sandbeckenkamaraden», but not exactly. Can anyone help me out here?
asked Jun 21, 2021 at 7:59
3
The word you are looking for is Sandkastenfreund.
guidot♦
26.5k2 gold badges34 silver badges79 bronze badges
answered Jun 21, 2021 at 8:07
user49093user49093
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12
The German word for friend is
Freund
Gender
The gender of Freund is masculine. E.g. der Freund. The feminine form is die Freundin.
Plural
The plural of Freund is Freunde.
German Definition
friend | |
Substantiv: | |
[1] meist nicht zur Familie gehörende Person, die man gut kennt und die man mag, mit der man gern Umgang hat | |
[2] Institution, Organisation: eine fördernde oder unterstützende Person | |
[1] She’s my best friend. | |
Sie ist meine beste Freundin. | |
[1] „He was most highly esteemed by Mr. Darcy, a most intimate, confidential friend.“ | |
„Er war höchst geschätzt von Herrn Darcy, ein sehr intimer, vertrauter Freund.“ |
Translations for friend and their definitions
Freund | ||
n-m. friend | ||
n-m. boyfriend |
Bekannter | |
n-m. an acquaintance, a friend |
Freundchen | |
n-n. (colloquial, ironic) friend, buster, mate, pal, buddy (form of address used in warning someone) |
Bekannte | |
n-f. an acquaintance, a friend |
Freundin | |
n-f. girlfriend | |
n-f. a female friend |
Pronunciation
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