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wikiHow to Say Yes in Different Languages

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"Yes" is one of the most commonly-used and important words in any language. It can signal that you want something, like something, or your opinion. Without yes, we would be spilling out several unneeded sentences, just to reply to something that has been said to us. This is why it's important to know how to say "yes" in many different languages. This way, when you travel the world, talk to someone from another country, you will have the knowledge required to say that word -yes. Just make sure you know what you are saying yes to, and know how to say no.


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    In English say "Yes." (Sounds like "yehss.")
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    In Spanish and Italian, say "Sí." (Sounds like "see.")
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    If French say "Oui" (Sounds like "we.")
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    In German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Swedish and Norwegian it is "Ja." (Sounds like "Yah.")
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    In Danish and Faroese it is "Ja." (Sounds like "yeah".)
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    In Portuguese and Cape-Verdean Creole it is "Sim" (Sounds like "sing")
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    In Hebrew(Yiddish) it is "Ken."
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    In Irish, it is "Sea". (Pronounced "Shah".)
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    In Esperanto it is "Jes." (Sounds like "yes.")
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    In Japanese it is "Hai." (Sounds like "hi")
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    In Swahili it is "Ndiyo." (Sounds like "nn-DEE-oh")
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    In Hindi and Urdu say "Haa'n" or "Gee"
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    In Tagalog, say "Oo." (Sounds like "AWE-awe")
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    In Mandarin say "是 [Shi]" (Sounds like "Shr.")
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    In Persian say "Baleh" or "Areh."
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    In Arabic say "Na'am"
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    In Armenian say a-yo
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    In Icelandic, say "Já" (Pronounced "Yow.")
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    In Hindi, say "Haan" (Pronounced "Haa")
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    In Punjabi, say "Hanji"
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    In Marathi, say "Ho"
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    In Jhduisim, say "hufi"
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    In Slovak, say "Áno"
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    In Czech, say "Ano"
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    In Hungarian, say "Igen"
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    In Russian, say Да "Da"
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    In Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, and Romanian say "Da"
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    In Slovene, say "Ja" (or "Da" in highly official situations)
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    In Turkish, say "Evet" (Sounds like "ae-wet")
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    In Telugu, say "Avunu"
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    In Kannada, say ಹೌದು (how-du) / ಸರಿ (suh-ri)
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    In Greek, say "Nai" (Sounds like "n-ae")
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    In Polish, say "tak" (Sounds like "tock")
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    In Lithuanian, say "Taip"
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    In Scots dialect, say "Aye" (Sounds like "eye")
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    In Scottish Gaidhlig, say "Tha" (sounds like "ha")
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    In Basque, say "Bai"
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    In Welsh, say "Ydw" or "Oes" (Sounds like "Uh-do" or "Oy-s")
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    In Gujarati, say "Haan"
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    In Luxembourg, say "Jo" (Sounds like "Yoh")
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    In Finnish, say "Kyllä" or "Joo"
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    In Swedish it's "Ja" (Sounds like YA)
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    In Indonesian and Malaysian, say "Ya" (sounds like "Yah")
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    In Estonian, say "Jah" (sounds like "Yah")
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    In Tamil, say "Sari" (சரி) (pronounced sa-ri) or "Aam" (ஆம்) (sounds like Ām).

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  • You might want to try to use their local accent.
  • Some languages have no actual word for yes, and require you to repeat the verb. This is true of Irish, Scottish, Gaelic, Thai, and Mandarin Chinese.


  • Make sure you also know how to say No.
  • Make sure you know what you are agreeing to.
  • Be careful how you say it, as it might come out inappropriate or unintelligible.

Article Info

Categories: Multiple Language Guides

In other languages:

Español: decir sí en diferentes idiomas, Italiano: Dire Sì in Diverse Lingue, Português: Dizer Sim em Diferentes Idiomas, Русский: сказать "да" на разных языках, Deutsch: Ja sagen in verschiedenen Sprachen

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