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"okay (agreeing)" in seven languages

Meaningokay (agreeing)

Spanish

vale

/ˈbale/

other source · Latin VALET 'it is strong, it is worth' (valer)

Peninsular; Latin America says está bien, dale or bueno.

French

d'accord

/dakɔʁ/

other source · accord, from Vulgar Latin *ACCORDĀRE (AD + COR 'heart')

Italian

va bene

/va ˈbɛne/

other source · 'it goes well': va (VADIT) + bene (BENE)

Portuguese

tá bom

/ta ˈbõ/

other source · short for está bom 'it is good': estar (Latin STĀRE) + bom (Latin BONUM)

Also combinado ('agreed') or, very casually, beleza.

Romanian

bine

/ˈbine/

other source · Latin BENE 'well'

Also în regulă, 'in order'.

Catalan

d'acord

/dəˈkɔɾ/

other source · acord, from Vulgar Latin *ACCORDĀRE (AD + COR 'heart')

Spanish vale is heard constantly in Barcelona too.

English

okay

/oʊˈkeɪ/

other source · American English OK (1839), a jokey abbreviation

English → Italianokay (agreeing)va beneNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The story

Three different ways to agree: Spanish 'it's worth it', French 'in accord' (literally 'heart to heart'), Italian 'it goes well'. All three also say OK.

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In a sentence

  • es¿Nos vemos a las ocho? —Vale.
  • frOn se voit à huit heures ? — D'accord.
  • itCi vediamo alle otto? — Va bene.
  • ptTe vejo às oito? — Tá bom.
  • roNe vedem la opt? — Bine.
  • caEns veiem a les vuit? — D'acord.
  • enSee you at eight? — Okay.

More in Greetings & courtesy

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