Say "Where Is the Bathroom" in Several Different Languages

Let's face it! You have to use the bathroom every day of your life. If you ever find yourself with people who don't speak the same language as you do, this guide will teach you to say "Where is the Bathroom?" in several different languages.

Steps

How to Say "Where is the Bathroom?" When Traveling in North America

  1. Know the primary languages that are spoken at your destination. For example, if you are in Quebec, you will need to know some basic French.
  2. Practice speaking the following translations for "Where is the Bathroom?" before leaving for your trip to a North American country:
    • English (American) = Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
    • French = pardon, où sont les toilettes? (pahr-DAW, oo saw lay twah-LETT?)
    • Papiamento (Caribbean Islands) = Unda e baño ta? (pronounced: Uhn-dah eh ban-yo tah?)
    • Spanish = Perdone/Disculpe, ¿Dónde está el baño?(Formal) (Per-DON-eh, DOHN-deh es-TAH el BAHN-yo?)

How to Say "Where is the Bathroom?" in Central or South America

  1. Prepare by finding out which languages are spoken in the countries that you will visit. In South America, most countries speak Spanish, although in Brazil, Portuguese is the primary language.
  2. Study these translations before you leave for your trip to South America:
    • Esperanto = Pardonon, kie estas la banejo? (par-DOH-nohn, KEY-eh ESS-tahs la bahn-EY-yo?)
    • Portuguese = Com licença, onde fica o banheiro? (com lee-SAY-nsa, OHN-jee FEE-cah oo bah-YAY-roo?)
    • Spanish = Perdone/Disculpe, ¿Dónde está el baño?(Formal) (Per-DON-eh, DOHN-deh es-TAH el BAHN-yo?)

How to Ask "Where is the Bathroom?" in Europe

  1. Prepare to encounter a wide variety of spoken languages. For a Europe trip, you may want to write down the translations for "Where is the Bathroom?" in a notebook and carry your notebook with you.
  2. Use these translations to ask for directions to the bathroom:
    • Austrian = "WC, Bitte?" (Vay-say, bit-ay?) which means "water closet, please?"
    • Bulgarian = Къде е банята? ("Kade e banyata?")
    • Croatian= Oprostite, gdje je kupaonica? (j is pronounced y)
    • Czech = Prosim Vas, Kde jsou toalety?
    • Danish = Undskyld mig, hvor er badeværelset/toilettet? (oon-skool-MYE, voa eh bay-the-VAY-rell-seh / TOY-lett-eh?)
    • Dutch = Pardon, waar is de W.C. ("way say")?
    • English (British) = Excuse me, where is the toilet/loo/lavatory?
    • Esperanto = Pardonon, kie estas la banejo? (par-DOH-nohn, KEY-eh ESS-tahs la bahn-EY-yo?)
    • Estonian = Vabandage, kus on tualett?
    • French = pardon, où sont les toilettes? (pahr-DAW, oo saw lay twah-LETT?)
    • Gaelic (Irish) = Ca bhfuil an leithreas?
    • German = Wo ist die Toilette, bitte? (Vo ist dee toy-LETT-uh, BIT-uh?)
    • Greek = Parakalo, pou ine i tualetta? (Πού είναι η τουαλέτα;)
    • Hungarian= Elnézést, hol (van) a vécé? [Ell-ney-zey-sht, hole vawn aw vay-tsay?]
    • Icelandic = Hvar er salernið / klósettið? (Kvar er sal-erdnith / clow-set-ith? pronounce 'th' like in 'them')
    • Italian = Mi scusi, dov'è il bagno?
    • Latvian = Atvainojiet (sorry), kur ir tualete (Where is bathroom?
    • Lithuanian = Atsiprašau (excuse me), kur yra tualetas?
    • Maltese = Fejn qiegђed it-toilet? [Fe-in qee-ed it toilet]
    • Neapolitan (Southwestern Italy) = scusat', arò stà 'o cesso?
    • Norwegian = Unnskyld meg,(pronounced oon-shyl) hvor er doen/toalettet (No pronunciation of the 't' at the end of toalette't', doen is slang said: doo-uhn) ?
    • Polish = Przepraszam, gdzie jest toaleta?
    • Portuguese = Por favor, onde é a casa-de-banho?
    • Romanian = Unde este toaleta, vă rog? (Oon-day yehs-tay twa-letta, vah rog?)
    • Russian = скажите пожалуйста, где туалет? (Skazhite pozhalusta, gde toalet?) listen
    • Serbian = Izvinite, gde je kupatilo?
    • Sinhalese(Sri Lankan) = Naana kaamaraya koheda?
    • Slovak = Prosím vás, kde sú toalety?
    • Slovene = Oprostite, kje je kopalnica/stranišče? (Kopalnica = bathroom, stranišče = toilet/rest room)
    • Swedish = Ursäkta mig (excuse me), var finns toaletten? (uhr-SHEHK-ta mey, var fins toa-letten?)
    • Spanish (Catalan) = On és el lavabo?
    • Ukrainian = Вибачте, де туалет? (Vybachte, de tualet?)
    • Welsh = Ble mae`r ty bach? (bleh MY-r Tee bach?)

How to Ask "Where is the Bathroom?" in Africa

  1. Memorize how to say "Where is the Bathroom?" in Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. Many Africans speak these languages in addition to their native languages.
  2. Try these translations depending on your location in Africa:
    • Afrikaans (Namibia) = Waar is die badkamer? ("Vaar is dee bat-kah-mer?")
    • Amharic (Ethiopia) = Metatebiya bet yet new?
    • Arabic (North Africa) = Men Fadlak, Fen El Hammam (من فضلك ، فين الحمام؟)
    • English (American) = Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
    • English (British) = Excuse me, where is the toilet/lou/lavatory?
    • French = pardon, où sont les toilettes? (pahr-DAW, oo saw lay twah-LETT?)
    • Luna (Congo) = Apresa ez nê pontate?
    • Portuguese = Por favor, onde é a casa-de-banho?
    • Rwandan = AhHo KweetOoMah Nee Hay? (Aho kwituma ni he?)
    • Senegalese= fun moy douche bee?
    • Sesotho (Lesotho) = Ntloaneng ke kae?
    • Somali = Aaway musqusha?
    • Swahili (Kenya) = Ambapo ni bafuni?
    • Tigrigna (Eritrea) = Abey Alo Shnti Bet?

Ask "Where is the Bathroom?" in Northern or Southern Asia and the Middle East

  1. Know the official language of your area. Language is extraordinarily diverse in this region. For example, India has 23 official languages, but you can generally get by with English or Hindi.
    • Armenian = gu nerek (excuse me),Pedkaranuh ooreh? or Dzukaraneh ooreh?
    • Arabic (Saudi Arabia; UAE) = Ayna Al Hammam? (أين الحمام؟)
    • Arabic (Levant)= Way al ham-AM? (وين الحمام؟)
    • Azerbijiani = Tualet (ayaq yolu) haradadır?
    • Bengali (Bangladesh) = বাথরুম কোথায়? Bathroom Kothay? (baat-room Ko-THAY?)
    • Georgian = sahd ah-rees t'oo-ah-leh-t'ee?
    • Greek (Cyprus) = Parakalo, pou ine i tualetta? (Πού είναι η τουαλέτα;)
    • Hebrew (Israel) = Slikha, ehfo hah sherooteem? (סליחה, איפה השירותים?)
    • Hindi = सौ्चालय् कहा् है? saunchalay (pronounced "sawchaalay") kahan hain? (The "n"s in "kahan"and "hain"are not actually pronounced, few people actually use the word saunchalay so you can just say bathroom)
    • Malayalam = Bathroom evide ah?
    • Marathi = Where is Toilet -> Sandas kuthe aahe ? (संडास कुठे आहे?)
    • Nepali = Bathroom (pronounce more like "baatroom")/snaan kaksha kahaan cha?
    • Pashto (Afghanistan) = tashnaab chērē day? (tash-NAAB CHEH-reh dai?)
    • Dari (Afghanistan) = Bebakhshid, tashnab kojast? ببخشید، تشناب کجاست؟
    • Persian (Iran) = Bebakhshid, dastshooee kojast? ببخشید، دستشویی کجاست؟
    • Punjabi (Pakistan) = (ਬਾਥਰੂਮ/ਗ਼ੁਸਲ ਖਾਨਾ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹੈ ?) Bathroom/Gusal Khana kithe hai?
    • Tajik = Ho-jat-kho-na kani?
    • Tamil = "Kuliyalarai enge ullathu?" or "Bathroom enga irukku?"
    • Telugu = Bathroom ekkada?
    • Turkish = Pardon, tuvalet nerede?
    • Urdu = Bathroom kidhar hay?
    • Uzbek = Hojat'hona qayerda?

Learn to Say "Where is the Bathroom?" in the Asia-Pacific

  1. Know the language of your area. This is especially important when you're traveling in Chinese-speaking areas.
  2. Say "Where is the bathroom?" in these languages:
    • Chinese (Cantonese) = Mmm-goy, tee-saw hai been-doh-ah? (Translit. Excuse me, where is the washroom?)
    • Chinese (Mandarin) = "Duì bù qǐ, cèsuǒ zài nǎr?" (written: "对不起，厕所在哪儿？) ("cèsuǒ" = "toilet" or "bathroom", and "duì bù qǐ" = "sorry" or "excuse me", so the literal translation is "Excuse me, toilet be where?") The "c" is pronounced like a combination of "t", "s", and "z" in the front of the mouth, and "q" is pronounced like "ch" in the front of the mouth. Remember the tones.
    • Hmong (= honm naj nyob qhov twb os?
    • Indonesian = Permisi, di mana kamar mandi?
    • Japanese = Toire wa, doko? [to-ee-le wa do-ko?] (Add 'desu ka?' after 'doko' for politeness.)(To be even more polite, say "otearai wa doko desu ka?". This is "Where is the restroom?". It is said as [oh-tay-ah-rye wa doe-koh dess kah]. Here is the phrase written in Hiragana [おてあらいはどこですか？])
    • Korean = Hwa-jang-shil uh-dee-in-ga-yo?
    • Malay = Tumpang tanya, di manakah bilik mandi?
    • Mongolian = Uuchlaarai('ʊ:tʃ|ɑ:ræ ), ene (N)ugaalgiin (u-GAWL-GEEN)oroo (o-ROW)ni (N) haana (HUN) baidag (bæ-dag) yum be?
    • Niuean (Pacific Islands) = ko fe e' fale vau? (pronounced ko-feh eh fa-le vau)
    • Portuguese = Por favor, onde é a casa-de-banho?
    • Samoan = E, 'O fea le faleuila? (Ay, Oh fay-ah lay fah-lay-wee-lah?)
    • Tagalog (Philippines) = Nasaan po ang banyo?
    • Thai = hong naam yuu tii nai
    • Tibetan = chap sang gawa yo rey?
    • Vietnamese = Cho hoi, nha` ve^. sinh o da^u va^.y ?

Tips

  • Be aware that bathrooms are not the same as toilets in some countries. Whilst it's common to request to use the bathroom when you need to empty your bladder or bowels in North America, in other countries, the bathroom is where you go to have a bath in other countries, and there may not be a toilet or WC in the room you are directed to if you ask for the bathroom.
  • If you are having trouble with whole sentences, then just say the appropriate word for bathroom. For example, if you are in Mexico and just say "el baño" or "baño" in a questioning tone, they will know what you mean and will point you in the right direction.
  • If you want to impress your friends by saying things in a different language, choose one that sounds exotic, such as Mongolian, as opposed to a language so closely related to English, like Spanish or German.
  • When using the Chinese dialects, have a lot of patience with the person you're talking to, especially if you're not familiar with using Asian accents. Chinese languages depend a great deal on intonation, which is not a major component of Western languages.
  • In Polish it is easier to say: Szukam WC? ( shoo-cam voo-tze).
  • In Hebrew, the ch in the word slicha is hard to pronounce, and might be confusing for the other person. It would be more understandable if you say just Sherootim.

Warnings

  • Ask your question courteously, no matter how desperate you are to visit the washroom.
  • If you desperately need to relive yourself and have no luck asking for a restroom, try your best to find a secluded place to go, preferably around shrubbery which will conceal you. Or, try communicating through nonverbal gestures to a doorman, homeowner, etc. and hopefully, they will understand your need.

Things You'll Need

  • Phrasebook for traveling
  • Smartphone to look up language questions quickly
  • Notebook to write down common phrases

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Sources and Citations

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