500+ Book in Different Languages 2026

A book is one of the most universal ways people share stories, knowledge, history, ideas, and imagination. Although the object is familiar around the world, the word used for “book” sounds very different from one language to another.

If you are learning languages, travelling, studying translation, or simply curious about vocabulary, learning book in different languages is a useful place to start. This guide provides translations, their easy English pronunciations, and short real-life examples.

Below, you can discover book in different languages in all languages and see how this everyday word is written and used around the world.

Book in Different Languages

Language	Correct native phrase	Easy English pronunciation	Example sentence	English meaning
English	book	BOOK	I bought a new book.	I purchased a new book.
Spanish	libro	LEE-broh	Compré un libro nuevo.	I bought a new book.
French	livre	LEE-vruh	J’ai acheté un nouveau livre.	I bought a new book.
German	Buch	BOOKH	Ich lese ein Buch.	I am reading a book.
Italian	libro	LEE-broh	Sto leggendo un libro.	I am reading a book.
Portuguese	livro	LEE-vroh	Estou lendo um livro.	I am reading a book.
Dutch	boek	BOOK	Ik lees een boek.	I am reading a book.
Afrikaans	boek	BOOK	Ek lees ‘n boek.	I am reading a book.
Swedish	bok	BOOK	Jag läser en bok.	I am reading a book.
Danish	bog	BOH	Jeg læser en bog.	I am reading a book.
Norwegian	bok	BOOK	Jeg leser en bok.	I am reading a book.
Finnish	kirja	KEER-yah	Luen kirjaa.	I am reading a book.
Icelandic	bók	BOHK	Ég les bók.	I am reading a book.
Irish	leabhar	LYOW-er	Tá leabhar agam.	I have a book.
Welsh	llyfr	HLUHV-r	Mae gen i lyfr.	I have a book.
Scottish Gaelic	leabhar	LYOW-er	Tha leabhar agam.	I have a book.
Polish	książka	KSHONZH-kah	Czytam książkę.	I am reading a book.
Czech	kniha	KNEE-hah	Čtu knihu.	I am reading a book.
Slovak	kniha	KNEE-hah	Čítam knihu.	I am reading a book.
Slovenian	knjiga	KNEE-gah	Berem knjigo.	I am reading a book.
Croatian	knjiga	KNEE-gah	Čitam knjigu.	I am reading a book.
Serbian	књига	KNEE-gah	Читам књигу.	I am reading a book.
Bosnian	knjiga	KNEE-gah	Čitam knjigu.	I am reading a book.
Bulgarian	книга	KNEE-gah	Чета книга.	I am reading a book.
Macedonian	книга	KNEE-gah	Читам книга.	I am reading a book.
Russian	книга	KNEE-gah	Я читаю книгу.	I am reading a book.
Ukrainian	книга	KNEE-hah	Я читаю книгу.	I am reading a book.
Belarusian	кніга	KNEE-gah	Я чытаю кнігу.	I am reading a book.
Lithuanian	knyga	KNEE-gah	Aš skaitau knygą.	I am reading a book.
Latvian	grāmata	GRAH-mah-tah	Es lasu grāmatu.	I am reading a book.
Estonian	raamat	RAH-maht	Ma loen raamatut.	I am reading a book.
Hungarian	könyv	KURNYV	Könyvet olvasok.	I am reading a book.
Romanian	carte	KAR-teh	Citesc o carte.	I am reading a book.
Albanian	libër	LEE-bur	Po lexoj një libër.	I am reading a book.
Greek	βιβλίο	vee-VLEE-oh	Διαβάζω ένα βιβλίο.	I am reading a book.
Turkish	kitap	kee-TAHP	Bir kitap okuyorum.	I am reading a book.
Armenian	գիրք	GHEERK	Ես գիրք եմ կարդում։	I am reading a book.
Georgian	წიგნი	TSIG-nee	მე წიგნს ვკითხულობ.	I am reading a book.
Persian	کتاب	ke-TAAB	من یک کتاب می‌خوانم.	I am reading a book.
Arabic	كتاب	kee-TAAB	أقرأ كتابًا.	I am reading a book.
Hebrew	ספר	SEH-fer	אני קורא ספר.	I am reading a book.
Hindi	किताब	ki-TAAB	मैं किताब पढ़ रहा हूँ।	I am reading a book.
Urdu	کتاب	ki-TAAB	میں کتاب پڑھ رہا ہوں۔	I am reading a book.
Bengali	বই	BOI	আমি একটি বই পড়ছি।	I am reading a book.
Punjabi	ਕਿਤਾਬ	ki-TAAB	ਮੈਂ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਪੜ੍ਹ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ।	I am reading a book.
Gujarati	પુસ્તક	poos-TAK	હું પુસ્તક વાંચું છું.	I am reading a book.
Marathi	पुस्तक	poos-TAK	मी पुस्तक वाचत आहे.	I am reading a book.
Nepali	किताब	ki-TAAB	म किताब पढ्दैछु।	I am reading a book.
Sinhala	පොත	POH-tah	මම පොතක් කියවනවා.	I am reading a book.
Tamil	புத்தகம்	POOT-tha-gam	நான் ஒரு புத்தகம் படிக்கிறேன்.	I am reading a book.
Telugu	పుస్తకం	POOS-ta-kam	నేను పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నాను.	I am reading a book.
Kannada	ಪುಸ್ತಕ	POOS-ta-ka	ನಾನು ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಓದುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ.	I am reading a book.
Malayalam	പുസ്തകം	POOS-ta-kam	ഞാൻ ഒരു പുസ്തകം വായിക്കുന്നു.	I am reading a book.
Thai	หนังสือ	nang-SUE	ฉันกำลังอ่านหนังสือ	I am reading a book.
Vietnamese	sách	sahk	Tôi đang đọc sách.	I am reading a book.
Indonesian	buku	BOO-koo	Saya sedang membaca buku.	I am reading a book.
Malay	buku	BOO-koo	Saya sedang membaca buku.	I am reading a book.
Filipino	aklat	AK-lat	Nagbabasa ako ng aklat.	I am reading a book.
Chinese (Mandarin)	书	shū	我正在看书。	I am reading a book.
Japanese	本	hon	本を読んでいます。	I am reading a book.
Korean	책	chaek	저는 책을 읽고 있어요.	I am reading a book.
Mongolian	ном	NOHM	Би ном уншиж байна.	I am reading a book.
Kazakh	кітап	kee-TAHP	Мен кітап оқып отырмын.	I am reading a book.
Uzbek	kitob	kee-TOHB	Men kitob o‘qiyapman.	I am reading a book.
Azerbaijani	kitab	kee-TAHB	Mən kitab oxuyuram.	I am reading a book.
Swahili	kitabu	kee-TAH-boo	Ninasoma kitabu.	I am reading a book.
Amharic	መጽሐፍ	mets-HAHF	መጽሐፍ እያነበብኩ ነው።	I am reading a book.
Zulu	incwadi	in-KWAH-dee	Ngifunda incwadi.	I am reading a book.
Xhosa	incwadi	in-KWAH-dee	Ndifunda incwadi.	I am reading a book.
Haitian Creole	liv	LEEV	M ap li yon liv.	I am reading a book.
Latin	liber	LEE-ber	Librum lego.	I am reading a book.
Esperanto	libro	LEE-broh	Mi legas libron.	I am reading a book.

What Does “Book” Mean?

The word book usually refers to a written, printed, or digital work containing pages of text, illustrations, information, or a story. A book can be fiction, non-fiction, educational, historical, religious, or created for entertainment.

The English word can also be used as a verb. For example, “I want to book a hotel” means to reserve a room. However, in this guide, book in different languages refers primarily to the noun: a book that people read.

How to Say “Book” in Different Languages

If you are wondering how to say book in different languages, the translations vary considerably.

Some languages have words that sound relatively similar. For example, Spanish libro, Italian libro, Portuguese livro, and Romanian carte all have their own forms.

In several Slavic languages, the word is related to forms such as Russian книга, Polish książka, Czech kniha, and Croatian knjiga.

In Asian languages, the differences are even more noticeable. Mandarin uses 书, Japanese uses 本, Korean uses 책, Hindi uses किताब, and Arabic uses كتاب.

Book in Different Languages Around the World

Books are found in almost every culture, but languages have developed their own words for them.

In Europe, common examples include French livre, German Buch, Spanish libro, Dutch boek, and Greek βιβλίο.

Across South Asia, you can find Hindi किताब, Urdu کتاب, Bengali বই, Punjabi ਕਿਤਾਬ, Tamil புத்தகம், and Malayalam പുസ്തകം.

In East and Southeast Asia, Mandarin 书, Japanese 本, Korean 책, Vietnamese sách, Thai หนังสือ, Indonesian buku, and Filipino aklat are common terms.

African languages also have distinctive words. Swahili uses kitabu, Zulu uses incwadi, Xhosa uses incwadi, and Amharic uses መጽሐፍ.

Book in Different Languages Translations and Pronunciation

Knowing the written translation is useful, but pronunciation helps you use the word in conversation.

Some languages use familiar Latin letters, while others use completely different writing systems. Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Bengali, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Georgian are examples of languages where the native spelling may look very different from English.

The pronunciation column provides an easy English approximation to help beginners recognise the word. These approximations are designed for learning rather than replacing the natural pronunciation of a native speaker.

Why Is the Word “Book” Important to Learn?

“Book” is a practical vocabulary word because books are part of education, work, travel, culture, and everyday life.
Learning this word can help you:

• talk about reading
• ask for a book in a shop
• discuss your favourite books
• understand library vocabulary
• improve your basic vocabulary
• recognise book-related words while travelling
• communicate with language learners and native speakers

It is also a useful word for beginners because it can easily be combined with other vocabulary, such as “new book”, “old book”, “history book”, “school book”, and “favourite book”.

Interesting Differences Between Book Translations

One interesting feature of book in different languages is that several languages have historically related forms.
For example, Spanish libro, Italian libro, Portuguese livro, and Esperanto libro are visibly similar.

Another group can be seen in Central and Eastern Europe, where forms such as Russian книга, Bulgarian книга, Serbian књига, and Slovenian knjiga share noticeable similarities.

South Asian languages also show interesting variation. Hindi, Urdu, and Nepali use forms based on किताब, while Gujarati and Marathi use પુસ્તક and पुस्तक respectively.

Book as a Verb in English

It is important to remember that English has another common meaning of “book”.

As a verb, to book means to arrange or reserve something in advance.
For example:
I need to book a hotel room.

Here, “book” does not mean a written publication. It means to make a reservation.

This distinction matters when searching for book in different languages translations, because other languages may use completely different words for the noun and the verb.

Common Types of Books

The word “book” can describe many types of publications, including:

• novels
• textbooks
• dictionaries
• biographies
• cookbooks
• poetry books
• history books
• children’s books
• reference books
• travel books

Learning the basic word first makes it easier to build a larger vocabulary around reading and publishing.

How to Remember “Book” in Different Languages

A useful way to remember new translations is to group languages together.

Start with similar forms such as libro, livro, and libro. Then practise words that look completely different, such as Mandarin 书, Japanese 本, Korean 책, and Arabic كتاب.

Writing each word several times, saying it aloud, and using it in a short sentence can make vocabulary easier to remember.

Conclusion

Learning book in different languages is a simple but useful way to expand your multilingual vocabulary. The translations above show how one familiar object can have completely different names across languages and cultures.

From Spanish libro and French livre to Mandarin 书, Japanese 本, Arabic كتاب, and Swahili kitabu, each translation provides a small insight into another language.

Whether you are studying languages, travelling, reading foreign literature, or simply curious about book in different languages around the world, these translations offer a practical starting point.

FAQs 

1. How do you say “book” in different languages?
“Book” has many different translations. Examples include libro in Spanish, livre in French, Buch in German, книга in Russian, کتاب in Urdu, 书 in Chinese, 本 in Japanese, and 책 in Korean.

2. What is “book” in Spanish?
The Spanish word for “book” is libro. For example, “I am reading a book” can be expressed as Estoy leyendo un libro.

3. What is “book” in French?
The French word for “book” is livre. It is commonly used when referring to a written or published book.

4. What is “book” in Japanese?
The Japanese word 本 (hon) is commonly used for “book”. A natural sentence is 本を読んでいます, meaning “I am reading a book.”

5. Is “book” both a noun and a verb in English?
Yes. As a noun, “book” means a written or published work. As a verb, “to book” means to reserve or arrange something in advance, such as a hotel room, flight, or appointment.