No matter where you travel, you’re bound to find beauty. Perhaps the landscapes are beautiful, or maybe the people. You might even travel somewhere that has the most beautiful food you’ve ever seen. In any case, being able to say “beautiful” will help you express your awe to locals, which is a wonderful way to connect and show your gratitude.
A language barrier doesn’t have to stop you from communicating with locals. Learning just a few phrases, like how to say “thank you” or “hello” or even “I love you,” makes a huge difference. Even if you say it poorly or with a thick accent, a genuine attempt to speak the local language is a sign of respect anywhere you go.
For the times that you just need to say how lovely and incredible something is, here is how to say “beautiful” in 100 of the world’s most spoken languages (note pairs of words are in the order of masculine/feminine):
1. Mandarin: měilì de
Where it’s spoken: China, Taiwan, Singapore
2. Spanish: bonito/bonita, hermoso/hermosa, bello/bella (all mean “beautiful”)
Where it’s spoken: Hispanic America, Spain, United States, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, Pacific Islands
3. English: beautiful
Where it’s spoken: Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States
4. Hindi: sundar
Where it’s spoken: India, Nepal, Fiji
5. Arabic: jamíl/jamíla (gamíl/gamíla in Egypt)
Where it’s spoken: North Africa, Western Asia (Middle East), East Africa
6. Portuguese: bonito/bonita, lindo/linda, belo/bela
Where it’s spoken: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste
7. Bengali: sundara
Where it’s spoken: Bangladesh, West Bengal (India), Tripura (India), Assam (India)
8. Russian: krasivyy (m), krasivaya (f), krasivoye (n)
Where it’s spoken: Russia, former republics of the Soviet Union, Mongolia
9. Japanese: kireina
Where it’s spoken: Japan
10. Punjabi: sudara
Where it’s spoken: Punjab region (India, Pakistan)
11. German: schön
Where it’s spoken: Germany, Austria, Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy), Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, South Tirol (in Italy)
12. Javanese: ayu
Where it’s spoken: Java (Indonesia)
13. Wu (Shanghainese): měilì de
Where it’s spoken: Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu (eastern China)
14. Malay/Indonesian: cantik (“chantik”)
Where it’s spoken: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
15. Korean: aleumdaun
Where it’s spoken: North Korea, South Korea
16. Telugu: andamaina
Where it’s spoken: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry (India)
17. Vietnamese: xinh đẹp (“sing dep”)
Where it’s spoken: Vietnam
18. French: beau/belle
Where it’s spoken: Belgium (Wallonia, Brussels), Canada (particularly Quebec, New Brunswick and eastern parts of Ontario), France, Switzerland, Francophone Africa, French Caribbean, French Polynesia, various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
19. Marathi: sundara
Where it’s spoken: Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat (India)
20. Tamil: aḻaku
Where it’s spoken: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (India), Puducherry (India), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius
21. Urdu: khoobsurat
Where it’s spoken: India, Pakistan
22. Persian/Farsi: qasheng, khoshgel (for people)
Where it’s spoken: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan
23. Turkish: güzel
Where it’s spoken: Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria
24. Cantonese: laang
Where it’s spoken: Guangdong (Canton), southern Guangxi (southern China), Hong Kong, Macau
25. Italian: bello/bella, bellissimo/bellissima (“very beautiful”)
Where it’s spoken: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino
26. Thai: s̄wy (“shuway”)
Where it’s spoken: Thailand
27. Gujarati: sundara
Where it’s spoken: Gujarat (India)
28. Basque: eder
Where it’s spoken: Northern Spain, southwestern France
29. Minnan hua: hǎo kàn
Where it’s spoken: Fujian, eastern part of Guandong (southeastern China), Hainan (southern China), Taiwan, Malaysia
30. Polish: piękny
Where it’s spoken: Poland, Germany, Belarus, western Ukraine, Lithuania
31. Pashto: aaghli
Where it’s spoken: Afghanistan, Pakistan
32. Kannada: sundara
Where it’s spoken: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (India)
33. Malayalam: manēāharaṁ (“manóharam”)
Where it’s spoken: Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé (India)
34. Sundanese: geulis (“ghelís”)
Where it’s spoken: Java (Indonesia)
35. Chamorro: bunitu/bunita
Where it’s spoken: mainly on Guam and in the Mariana Islands
36. Hausa: kyau
Where it’s spoken: Nigeria
37. Burmese: lhasaw a sainn
Where it’s spoken: Myanmar
38. Oriya: sundar
Where it’s spoken: Odisha (India)
39. Armenian: geghets’ik (“gheretsík”)
Where it’s spoken: Armenia, Georgia, Russia
40. Ukrainian: harnyy
Where it’s spoken: Ukraine
41. Bhojpuri: nik
Where it’s spoken: Bihar (India)
42. Tagalog: maganda
Where it’s spoken: Manila and northern Philippines
43. Yoruba: lẹwa
Where it’s spoken: Nigeria, Benin, Togo
44. Maithili: lōga
Where it’s spoken: Bihar (India)
45. Sindhi: surkẖu
Where it’s spoken: Sindh (Pakistan and neighboring areas in India)
46. Swahili: mrembo
Where it’s spoken: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
Swahili is the most widely spoken language in Africa with about 100 million speakers, and is the national language of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Swahili is said to have originated from Arabic, among other languages. It’s possible the language came from interactions between Arabs and East Africans back in the day.
47. Uzbek: go’zal
Where it’s spoken: Uzbekistan
48. Amharic: k’onijo
Where it’s spoken: Ethiopia
49. Fula: wooɗude
Where it’s spoken: West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan
50. Igbo: mara mma
Where it’s spoken: Nigeria
51. Oromo: bareedduu
Where it’s spoken: Ethiopia, Kenya
52. Romanian: frumos
Where it’s spoken: Romania, Moldova
53. Azerbaijani: gözəl
Where it’s spoken: Azerbaijan, northern Iran
54. Manipuri/Meitei: maithili
Where it’s spoken: Northeast India, Bangladesh, Burma
55. Chichewa: wokongola
Where it’s spoken: Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique
56. Cebuano: gwapa
Where it’s spoken: Central and southern Philippines
57. Dutch: mooi
Where it’s spoken: Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders, Brussels), Suriname
58. Kurdish: bedew
Where it’s spoken: Kurdistan (northern Iraq, parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria)
59. Serbo-Croatian: lijep
Where it’s spoken: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro
60. Malagasy: tsara tarehy
Where it’s spoken: Madagascar
61. Nepali: sundara
Where it’s spoken: Nepal and neighboring areas, Sikkim (India)
62. Saraiki: swہݨa, sjawl
Where it’s spoken: Sindh (Pakistan)
63. Santali: ɑɖi nɑpɑi
Where it’s spoken: India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan
64. Khmer: srasa saat (“srasaat”)
Where it’s spoken: Cambodia
65. Sinhalese: lassanayi
Where it’s spoken: Sri Lanka
66. Bambara: cɛɲi
Where it’s spoken: Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana
67. Assamese: dhunia
Assam (India)
68. Madurese: bagus
Where it’s spoken: Madura, Java (Indonesia)
69. Somali: qurux badan
Where it’s spoken: Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Yemen
70. Magahi: This one was impossible to find on the web. Do you speak Magahi and want to let us know how to say “beautiful” in your language?
Where it’s spoken: Bihar (India)
71. Dogri: This is another one that was difficult to find online. Any BMTM readers that speak Dogri?
Where it’s spoken: Kashmir Jamu (india)
72. Marwari: Similarly, an English to Marwari dictionary is tough to find online.
Where it’s spoken: Rajasthan (India and Pakistan)
73. Hungarian: szép (“sayp”)
Where it’s spoken: Hungary and neighboring areas
74. Chewa: wokongola
Where it’s spoken: Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe
75. Kinyarwanda: umunyaburanga
Where it’s spoken: Rwanda
76. Greek: panemorfi
Where it’s spoken: Greece, Cyprus
77. Akan/Twi: feh feh
Where it’s spoken: Ghana, Ivory Coast
78. Khasi: babha briew
Where it’s spoken: Meghalaya (India)
79. Kazakh: ädemi
Where it’s spoken: Kazakhstan
80. Tswana: to say that something or someone is beautiful in Tswana, the -ntle suffix is added to the word
Where it’s spoken: Botswana
81. Hebrew: yafé/yafá
Where it’s spoken: Israel
82. Zulu: babazekayo
Where it’s spoken: South Africa
83. Czech: krásná
Where it’s spoken: Czech Republic
84. Kinyarwanda: umunyaburanga
Where it’s spoken: Rwanda
85. Konkani: sōbīta
Where it’s spoken: Goa (india)
86. Haitian Creole: bèl
Where it’s spoken: Haiti
87. Afrikaans: pragtige (“prakhtikhe”)
Where it’s spoken: South Africa
88. Ilokano: napintas
Where it’s spoken: Northern Luzon (Philippines)
89. Quechua: sumaq
Where it’s spoken: Peru, Bolivia
90. Kirundi: uri mwiza
Where it’s spoken: Burundi, Uganda
91. Swedish: skön (“hwern” or “shern”)
Where it’s spoken: Sweden, Finland
92. Hmong: zoo nkauj
Where it’s spoken: Laos and neighboring areas
93. Shona: runako
Where it’s spoken: Zimbabwe, northwestern Mozambique
94. Hiligaynon: tahúm
Where it’s spoken: Western Visayas (Philippines)
95. Uyghur: chirailuq
Where it’s spoken: Xinjiang (western China)
96. Balochi: a-mul-l
Where it’s spoken: Balochistan (Pakistan and Iran)
97. Belarusian: pryhožy
Where it’s spoken: Belarus
98. Maori: ataahua
Where it’s spoken: New Zealand
99. Xhosa: entle
Where it’s spoken: South Africa, southern Mozambique
100. Konkani: sōbīta
Where it’s spoken: Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra (India)
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Letting locals know that you think their country is beautiful is not only a great way to break the ice but a generous act of respect and kindness.
Do you speak one of the world’s 100 most spoken languages and have feedback or corrections on the list above? Or a key phrase you think we should know? Let us know!
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