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"to flow" in seven languages

Meaningto flow

Spanish

fluir

/fluˈiɾ/

learned

For rivers and water, everyday Spanish often just says correr.

French

couler

/kule/

other source · Latin CŌLĀRE 'to strain, filter'

Italian

scorrere

/ˈskorrere/

other source · Latin EXCURRERE 'to run out'

Portuguese

fluir

/fluˈih/

learned

For rivers, everyday Portuguese also says correr 'to run'.

Romanian

curge

/ˈkurdʒe/

other source · Latin CURRERE 'to run'

Catalan

fluir

/fluˈi/

learned

For water, everyday Catalan also says córrer 'to run'.

English

flow

/floʊ/

native English · Old English flōwan

English → Italianto flowscorrereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: fluid, fluent, flux, influence.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FLUERE‘to flow’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Only Spanish uses FLUERE, and as a book word (fluir). French water 'strains' (couler, from CŌLĀRE) and Italian water 'runs out' (scorrere).

English relatives: fluid, fluent, flux, influence

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl agua fluye por el canal.
  • frL'eau coule dans le canal.
  • itL'acqua scorre nel canale.
  • ptA água flui pelo canal.
  • roApa curge prin canal.
  • caL'aigua flueix pel canal.
  • enWater flows through the canal.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words