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"to swim" in seven languages

Meaningto swim

Spanish

nadar

/naˈdaɾ/

inherited

French

nager

/naʒe/

other source · Latin NĀVIGĀRE 'to sail'

The same verb as English navigate, gone from boats to bodies.

Italian

nuotare

/nwoˈtare/

inherited

From spoken *NOTĀRE, a variant of NATĀRE; the uo spread from the stressed forms (nuoto).

Portuguese

nadar

/naˈdah/

inherited

Romanian

înota

/ɨnoˈta/

inherited

From spoken *INNOTĀRE, with the same o as Italian nuotare.

Catalan

nedar

/nəˈda/

inherited

English

swim

/swɪm/

native English · Old English swimman

English → Italianto swimnuotareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: natatorium.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

NATĀRE‘to swim’

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

The story

Spanish nadar and Portuguese nadar voiced NATĀRE's t; Catalan nedar did too. Italian and Romanian (înota) swim with a spoken-Latin *NOTĀRE, and French sails: nager is NĀVIGĀRE.

English relatives: natatorium

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

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In a sentence

  • esAprendí a nadar a los seis años.
  • frJ'ai appris à nager à six ans.
  • itHo imparato a nuotare a sei anni.
  • ptAprendi a nadar aos seis anos.
  • roAm învățat să înot la șase ani.
  • caVaig aprendre a nedar als sis anys.
  • enI learned to swim when I was six.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words