How to say “kid” in 30 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
“kid” in French: gamin · German: kinder
It is commonest in German, where kinder is the 278th most used word.
Kid in other languages, A to Z
- Basque mutiko/mutiko/ kid, young boy #372
- Bosnian dijete/djěːte/ child, kid #431
- Bulgarian дете[dɛˈtɛ] child, kid #317
- Chinese 孩子/xaɪ̯³⁵ d͡z̥ɹ̩³/ child; children; kid #18
- Croatian dijete/djěːte/ child, kid #314
- Dutch kinderen/ˈkɪn.də.rə(n)/ child, kid, non-adult human #261
- Esperanto geknaboj/ɡekˈnaboi̯/ #1,132
- Estonian lapsed/ˈlɑpsed̥/ child, kid #385
- French gamin/ɡa.mɛ̃/ #920
- Galician cativos/kaˈtibos/ child, kid #1,082
- German kinder/ˈkɪndɐ/ kid; child #278
- Greek παιδιά/peðiˈa/ child; kid #125
- Hebrew ילד/jald/ a child, a kid, a boy #220
- Icelandic krakkar/ˈkʰrahkar/ kid, child #476
- Indonesian bocah[ˈbot͡ʃah] child; kid #1,190
- Italian scherzando/skertˈsando/ to joke, to kid, to jest, to be funny #1,060
- Korean 아이[a̠i] child, kid #301
- Macedonian дете[ˈdɛtɛ] child, kid #215
- Persian بچه[bæ.t͡ʃʰe] child, kid #46
- Polish żartujesz/ʐarˈtu.jɛʂ/ to joke, to kid #1,048
- Russian ребята[rʲɪˈbʲatə] child, kid, baby: children, kids, babies #322
- Serbian dete/ˈdɛtɛ/ child, kid #348
- Spanish chica/ˈt͡ʃika/ boy; kid #258
- Swedish skämtar/ˈsxɛmtar/ to joke, to kid #1,311
- Tagalog bata/ˈbataʔ/ child; kid #144
- Tamil பையன்/pɐɪ̯jɐn/ boy, kid, little fellow #99
- Telugu మేకపిల్ల/ˈmeːkaˌpilla/ a young goat kid #613
- Ukrainian пацан[pɐˈt͡san] boy, kid, lad, fella #1,912
- Urdu بچہ/bət̪.t͡ʃɑ(ː)/ baby; kid, child #367
- Vietnamese nhóc[ɲawk͡p̚˧˦] kid, child, brat #558
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.