About This Quiz
Are you a student of European languages? Do you think you could identify the language if we gave you a phrase? Take this How Stuff Works quiz to test your knowledge of European languages.
Did you know that there are roughly 445 languages currently spoken in Europe? However, about 90% of the population of Europe speak one of three types of languages: Slavic, Germanic, and Romance. The speakers of these languages are relatively equal with more than 200 million native speakers each.
Slavic languages are languages such as Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian. Of these languages, Russian is the most widely spoken, with more than 100 million native speakers. Of the Germanic languages, which include German and Dutch, there are roughly 210 million native speakers. And, of the Romance languages, which include French, Spanish, and Italian, there are, again, roughly 210 million speakers.
But, let's be serious, you probably didn't study an obscure European language in school, so unless you grew up speaking one, you'd be at a disadvantage when taking this quiz. We have tried to incorporate languages that many people would be familiar with, so there's no need to phone a friend for help.
Let's find out how much you really know about European languages.
Italian is one of the closest Romance languages to Latin and spoken by about 85 million people in Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas. This phrase means "I love you."
French is a Romance language with official status in 29 countries and over 270 million speakers around the world. This phrase means "He is tall and handsome."
Corsican is a Romance language that is closely related to Tuscan Italian and has about 200,000 native speakers. This phrase means "hello."
Advertisement
German is a West Germanic language spoken by about 95 million people around the world and the most spoken language within Europe. This phrase means "It's my birthday."
Bulgarian is a Slavic language spoken by about 8 million people. This phrase means "I am tired," and is pronounced "Izmoren sŭm."
Catalan is a Romance language that has the most in common with Italian and is spoken in Andorra, Italy, the Balearic Islands and Spain. This phrase means "Where is it?"
Advertisement
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by about 24 million people throughout Europe, Africa, The Americas and Southeast Asia. This phrase means "I am a student."
Portuguese is a Western Romance language spoken throughout Europe, Asia, India, Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. It has the 6th most native speakers of any language on earth. This phrase means "Where is the bathroom?"
Bosnian is a unique language widely spoken throughout Eastern Europe. It has used both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets and is a South Slavic language that borrows words from Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and Persian. This phrase can mean hello or goodbye.
Advertisement
Polish is a West Slavic Language spoken by roughly 55 million people around the world, making it the second most widely spoken Slavic language after Russian. This phrase means "Where is the bathroom?"
Finnish is a Finnic language with official status in Finland and minority status in Russia, Sweden and Norway. This phrase means "I am lost."
Slovak is a West Slavic language spoken by over 5 million people around the world, but mostly in Slovakia where it is the official language. This phrase means "Help me!"
Advertisement
Greek is a Hellenic language with over 3,000 years of history in the Mediterranean, giving it the longest history of any Indo-European language. This phrase is pronounced "Eímai charoúmenos," and means "I'm happy."
Basque is a language isolate, meaning that it has no other known living language relatives. It's spoken throughout Basque Country, which includes parts of Northern Spain and Southern France. This phrase means "You are beautiful."
Icelandic is the native language of Iceland. It is a Nordic language spoken by less than 400,000 people. This phrase means "My dog is black and white."
Advertisement
Romanian is an Eastern Romance language spoken by about 25 million people as a native language. This phrase means "One tea, please."
Irish, also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language spoken mostly in parts of Ireland. This phrase means "Where is the hospital?"
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by about 6 million people mostly in Denmark, Northern Germany and Greenland. This phrase means "I am visiting."
Advertisement
Latvian is a Baltic language spoken by over a million people, mostly in Latvia. This phrase means "The sky is blue."
Luxembourgish is a West Germanic Language spoken by less than 400,000 people worldwide and mainly in the country of Luxembourg. This phrase means "I am hungry."
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken by roughly 2 million people around the world, mostly in the country of Macedonia and throughout the Balkans. This phrase means "Goodbye" and is pronounced "Zbogum."
Advertisement
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken in various forms by 5 million people, mostly throughout Norway. This phrase means "Do you want coffee?"
Belarussian is an East Slavic language that is somewhat mutually intelligible with Russian and Ukrainian. it is spoken mainly in Eastern Europe and Russia. This phrase is pronounced "Dobry dzień." and means "Hello."
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language spoken fluently by less than 60,000 people. This phrase means "It's raining."
Advertisement
Serbian is spoken by millions throughout Eastern Europe but is the official language of Serbia and the Serbs. This phrase is pronounced "Pada kiša." and means "It's raining."
Slovenian is a South Slavic language spoken by over 2 million people worldwide, but mostly in Slovenia. This phrase means "I like apples."
Swedish is a North Germanic language spoken by about 10 million people and is mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish. This phrase means "You are beautiful."
Advertisement
Russian is an East Slavic language spoken by about 260 million people around the world. This phrase is pronounced "Ya zhenat." and means "I'm married."
Welsh is a Celtic language spoken in Wales, England and Argentina by minorities of the population. This phrase means "You are beautiful."
Czech is a West Slavic language spoken natively by about 10 million people. This phrase means "Thank you."
Advertisement
Hungarian is a Uralic language spoken by about 13 million people in Europe, North America, Israel and Australia. This phrase means "Where is my wife?"
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by more than 5 million people, mostly in Albania, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia. This phrase means "I like you."
Estonian is a Finnic language spoken by about a million people, the majority of whom live in Estonia. This phrase means "How are you?"
Advertisement
Maltese is a Siculo-Arabic language. Its Arabic roots have been heavily influenced by Italian and Sicilian. Most of its roughly 500,000 speakers live in Malta. This phrase means "I love you."