Skip to content

"yes" in seven languages

Meaningyes

Spanish

sí

/si/

inherited

French

oui

/wi/

other source · Old French oïl, from Latin HOC ILLE 'this (did) he'

To contradict a negative question French answers si, which is SĪC.

Italian

sì

/si/

inherited

Portuguese

sim

/sĩ/

inherited

Romanian

da

/da/

other source · Slavic da 'yes'

Catalan

sí

/si/

inherited

English

yes

/jɛs/

native English · Old English gēse

English → ItalianyessìNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

SĪC‘thus, so’

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

The story

Latin had no word for yes. Spanish and Italian answer 'thus' (SĪC); French 'this he (did)', HOC ILLE → oïl → oui. Dante sorted the Romance languages by their yes: the langue d'oïl, the langue d'oc (Occitan, from HOC) and the lingua del sì.

Learn it

Practice the Greetings & courtesy deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esSí, por favor.
  • frOui, s'il vous plaît.
  • itSì, grazie.
  • ptSim, por favor.
  • roDa, vă rog.
  • caSí, si us plau.
  • enYes, please.

More words from the same Latin

More in Greetings & courtesy

All Greetings & courtesy words