The phrase “big sister” holds a special place in many cultures, symbolizing a figure of guidance, protection, and familial affection. Here’s how to say “big sister” in 70 different languages, celebrating the linguistic diversity of this familial bond around the world:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Motra e madhe | Pronunciation: Mo-tra e ma-the
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – الأخت الكبيرة (Al-ukht al-kabira) | Pronunciation: Al-ookht al-ka-bee-rah
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – Մեծ քույր (Mets k’uyr) | Pronunciation: Mets koo-eer
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Böyük bacı | Pronunciation: Bo-yook ba-jee
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Ahaide nagusia | Pronunciation: A-ha-ee-de na-goo-sia
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Старэйшая сястра (Stareyshaya syastra) | Pronunciation: Sta-rey-sha-ya sya-stra
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – বড় বোন (Boro bon) | Pronunciation: Bo-ro bon
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Starija sestra | Pronunciation: Sta-ree-ya ses-tra
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – По-голяма сестра (Po-golyama sestra) | Pronunciation: Po-go-lya-ma ses-tra
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Germana gran | Pronunciation: Her-ma-na gran
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Starší sestra | Pronunciation: Star-shee ses-tra
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Storesøster | Pronunciation: Sto-re-suh-ster
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Oudere zus | Pronunciation: Oh-de-re zus
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Big sister | Pronunciation: Big sis-ter
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Vanem õde | Pronunciation: Va-nem ur-de
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – خواهر بزرگ (Khahar bozorg) | Pronunciation: Kha-har bo-zorg
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Iso sisko | Pronunciation: Ee-so sis-ko
- French (🇫🇷) – Grande sœur | Pronunciation: Grahnd suhr
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – დიდი და (Didi da) | Pronunciation: Dee-dee dah
- German (🇩🇪) – Große Schwester | Pronunciation: Groh-suh shves-ter
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Μεγάλη αδερφή (Megali aderfi) | Pronunciation: Me-ga-lee a-der-fee
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – אחות גדולה (Achot gdola) | Pronunciation: A-khot gdo-lah
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – बड़ी बहन (Badi behan) | Pronunciation: Ba-dee be-han
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Nagy nővér | Pronunciation: Na-dj nu-vair
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Stóra systir | Pronunciation: Sto-ra sis-tir
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Kakak perempuan | Pronunciation: Ka-kak pe-remp-wan
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Deirfiúr mór | Pronunciation: Der-fur more
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Sorella maggiore | Pronunciation: So-rel-la ma-jor-e
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 姉 (Ane) | Pronunciation: Ah-ne
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Үлкен апа (Ülken apa) | Pronunciation: Uhl-ken a-pa
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – បងស្រីធំ (Bong srey thom) | Pronunciation: Bong sray tom
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 누나 (Noona) | Pronunciation: Noo-na
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – Xwişk mezin | Pronunciation: Khwishk mez-in
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Улуу апа (Uluu apa) | Pronunciation: U-loo a-pa
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ນ້ອງຍິງ (Nong ying) | Pronunciation: Nong ying
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Vecākā māsa | Pronunciation: Ve-tsah-kah ma-sa
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Vyresnioji sesuo | Pronunciation: Vee-res-nio-ji se-suo
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Grouss Schwëster | Pronunciation: Grows shvester
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Поголема сестра (Pogolema sestra) | Pronunciation: Po-go-le-ma ses-tra
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Kakak perempuan | Pronunciation: Ka-kak pe-remp-wan
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Oħt il-kbira | Pronunciation: Oht il-kee-bra
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 姐姐 (Jiějiě) | Pronunciation: Jyeah-jyeah
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – मोठी बहिण (Moṭhī bahiṇ) | Pronunciation: Mo-thee ba-heen
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Ахын том (Akhiin tom) | Pronunciation: Ah-kheen tom
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – ठूली दिदी (Thūlī didī) | Pronunciation: Thoo-lee dee-dee
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Storesøster | Pronunciation: Sto-re-suh-ster
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – لوی خور (Loy khwor) | Pronunciation: Loy khor
- Persian (Farsi) (🇮🇷) – خواهر بزرگ (Khahar bozorg) | Pronunciation: Kha-har bo-zorg
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Starsza siostra | Pronunciation: Star-sha see-ostra
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Irmã mais velha | Pronunciation: Eer-mah myce vehl-yah
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Sora mai mare | Pronunciation: So-ra my ma-re
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Старшая сестра (Starshaya sestra) | Pronunciation: Star-sha-ya ses-tra
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Старија сестра (Starija sestra) | Pronunciation: Sta-ree-ya ses-tra
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – ලොකු අක්කා (Loku akka) | Pronunciation: Lo-ku ak-ka
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Staršia sestra | Pronunciation: Star-shee-a ses-tra
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Starejša sestra | Pronunciation: Sta-rey-sha ses-tra
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Walaal weyn | Pronunciation: Wa-laahl wayn
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Hermana mayor | Pronunciation: Er-ma-na ma-yor
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Dada mkubwa | Pronunciation: Da-da m-koo-bwa
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Storasyster | Pronunciation: Sto-ra-sys-ter
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Хоҳари калон (Khohari kalon) | Pronunciation: Kho-ha-ree ka-lon
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – பெரிய அக்கா (Periya akka) | Pronunciation: Pe-ri-ya ak-ka
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – పెద్ద అక్క (Pedda akka) | Pronunciation: Ped-da ak-ka
- Thai (🇹🇭) – พี่สาว (Phee sao) | Pronunciation: Phee sao
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Abla | Pronunciation: Ah-bla
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Старша сестра (Starsha sestra) | Pronunciation: Star-sha ses-tra
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – بڑی بہن (Badi behen) | Pronunciation: Ba-dee be-hen
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Katta opa | Pronunciation: Ka-tta o-pa
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Chị gái | Pronunciation: Chee gai
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Chwaer fawr | Pronunciation: Khwayer vour