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Language Arts - Cross-Curricular - Foreign Words and Phrases

Foreign Words and Phrases

You have probably heard people talking in foreign languages which you do not understand. But you know that all people need words for common things like numbers, days of the week, days of the month, and common words like please, thank-you, and hello. We're not going to discuss why there are so many different languages, but we are going to look at a few common words in English, French, German, and Spanish.

First of all, here are some ways of saying please, thank-you, hello, and good-bye in these languages:

ENGLISHpleasethank-youhellogood-bye
FRENCHs'il vous plaitmercibonjourau revoir
GERMANbittedankehalloauf Wiedersehen
SPANISHpor favorgraciasholaadios
Counting is another activity which must be done in all languages. Here are the first ten numbers in English, French, German, and Spanish:
ENGLISHFRENCHGERMANSPANISH
oneuneinsuno
twodeuxzweidos
threetroisdreitres
fourquatravierquatro
fivecinqfunfcinco
sixsixsechsseis
sevenseptsiebensiete
eighthuitachtocho
nineneufneunnueve
tendixzehndiaz
Here are the days of the week:
EnglishMondayTuesdayWednesday ThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
French:lundimardimercredi jeudivendredisamedidimanche
German:MontagDienstagMittwoch DonnerstagFreitagSamstagSonntag
Spanishlunesmartesmiercoles juevesviernessabadodomingo
Here are the months of the year:
EnglishJanuaryFebruaryMarch AprilMayJuneJulyAugust SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Frenchjanvierfevriermarsavril maijuinjuilletaoutseptembre octobrenovembredecembre
GermanJanuarFebruarMarz AprilMaiJuniJuli AugustSeptemberOktoberNovember Dezember
Spanishenerofebreromarzo abrilmayojuniojulioagosto septiembreoctubrenoviembrediciembre

People speaking and writing English will often interject certain foreign phrases as they speak or write. The following Latin phrase is on United States currency: 


	e pluribus unum
This Latin phrase means: one out of many.

Here are a whole bunch more foreign phrases: 


ad absurdum [Latin] - to the point of absurdity.
ad infinitum [Latin] - to infinity. 
ad nauseam [Latin] - to a sickening degree.
aficionado [Spanish] - an enthusiastic fan.
a priori - [Latin] - based on theory rather than observation. 
au courant [Latin] - up-to-date. 
bona fide [Latin] - in good faith; genuine. 
carpe diem [Latin] - seize the day. 
carte blanche [French] - unrestricted power. 
caveat emptor [Latin] - let the buyer beware. 
de rigueur [Latin] - strictly required.
dolce vita [Italian] - sweet life.
e pluribus unum [Latin] - one out of many.
ex post facto [Latin] -  retroactively. 
faux pas [French] - a social blunder. 
glasnost [Russian] - open and frank discussion.
in loco parentis [Latin] - in the place of a parent. 
in situ [Latin] - situated in the original or natural position. 
ipso facto [Latin] - by the fact itself. 
mano a mano [Spanish] - directly or face-to-face.
modus operandi [Latin] - a method of operating. 
non sequitur [Latin] - it does not follow.
persona non grata [Latin] - unacceptable or unwelcome person.
pro bono [Latin] - done or donated without charge orfree.
quid pro quo [Latin] - something for something; an equal exchange.
semper fidelis [Latin] - always faithful.
terra incognita [Latin] - unknown territory. 
verboten [German] - forbidden.
Notice that most of the phrases on this list are Latin. It is reasonable to conclude that Latin was a very important language at one time and that it lives on within other languages.

Before continuing to the next page, make sure that you can remember all the phrases that come from French, German, and Spanish. (But you will need to recall some of the Latin phrases in the last activity.)

Click here to continue to quiz

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