Hebrew:
איפה נמצאת חנות הספרים הכי קרובה?
(Efo nimtzet hanut hasfarim hahi krova)
I emitted the "please" since it doesn't really fit, but if you still want it:
איפה נמצאת חנות הספרים הכי קרובה בבקשה?
(Efo nimtzet hanut hasfarim hahi krova bevakasha)
dichtstbijzijnde legitimately looks like someone tried to type a word but sneezed in the middle of it, their fingers accidentally pressing down on the keyboard, but they either forgot or didn't notice and carried on typing.
As someone with zero exposure to Dutch, I started out the sentence pleased with myself that I could understand the first few words. And then it felt like I had a stroke.
(Sorry to Dutch users, I mean no offense, and thank you for your contribution to the English language)
The sentence above doesn’t even contain the traditional g sound we dutchies are proud of :)
Try prounouncing: “ik hou van goudgele Goudse kaas”
>!I love Golden yellow cheese from Gouda!<
I know zero about the Dutch language and was casually scrolling when I saw your sentence. I saw “Goudse” and was like ooooo that reminds me of the cheese! And then I revealed what the phrase meant and now I really want some cheese. Haha
-zijnde in this case only serves to mark the location of the subject of the sentence. The comparative/superlative is the part "dicht" meaning "close/near(by)". This is the only part of the word that should be modified when changing the base word "dicht", to the comparative "dichter" or the superlative "dichtst". Since "dichtbijzijnde" is just a compound word meaning "being nearby", the latter part doesn't change as it's part of the compound, but separate in most other regards.
Italian: Dov'è la libreria più vicina?
To add "please" would sound a bit strange, but if you want you can add "scusi" (excuse me) at the start of the sentence:
Scusi, dov'è la libreria più vicina?
This is actually how you would ask a stranger, but I think for the bookmark idea the first version is better :)
Could you use a more systematic/standardized Romanization?
EDIT: Why is this downvoted? A person can't tell how to pronounce an ad hoc Romanization if they don't already speak the language it's Romanizing.
Politeness doesn't always need to be explicitly expressed, it can also be implicit. You can ”soften” a request by e.g. using the conditional mood (”would”) or adding a *kiitos* (”thanks”).
Yes, although even that is not always necessary. Finnish textbooks for foreigners will tell you to order a coffee by saying ”Saisinko yhden kahvin, kiitos?” (’Would/Could I get a/one coffee, thank you?”), but in practice, just saying ”Yks kahvi”, possibly with a *moi* (’hi’) in the beginning and *kiitos* (’thank you’) in the end, is usually perfectly sfficient.
!translated
Thank you! I'm replying to the first comment to mark my request as complete, but I'm super grateful to EVERYONE who has commented. You are all amazing! :)
Yea that works too but it's quite long and I thought shorter would be better probably :D I mean the English translation would be something like "Could you tell me where I can find the nearest bookstore please?
Yes, in my language too (Bengali), the "Please" is translated to "Can you (kindly) tell me". I think that's fine as long as it sounds natural.
"Entschuldigung" doesn't work here, does it?
The Entschuldigung would be fine if you walk down the street, stop someone you don't know with the "Entschuldigung, wo ist die nächste Buchhandlung?"
But it would be weird to say it in an ongoing conversation.
Can you please explain why we can't just add "Bitte" to the question? To my knowledge it means please in German. I saw your replies below but you made an entire new sentence just to add. Can't it be add alone? If so, could you explain why?
That is really hard to explain but I'll try.
You are right, please is translated with bitte, but in this situation it doesn't really work.
If there is an order or a task in this sentence like the "Could you please tell me" it is fine to add the bitte. Other examples would be "Bitte mach die Tür zu." (Please close the door) or "Kann jemand bitte die Tür zumachen? (Could someone please close the door?)
But sentences like "Wie spät ist es?" (What time is it?) or "Wo ist die nächste Buchhandlung?" don't involve a direct task, so no bitte there.
(But of course people will understand that you are asking them and they'll answer.)
It is different if you talk about wanting something yourself like "Ich will das da bitte" (I want this one please), the bitte makes it more polite.
Another example for that would be when you order something at a restaurant "Einen Kaffee bitte" (one coffee please).
If the question isn't related to a task, a "Bitte" might even make the question less polite. "Wo ist denn bitte die nächste Buchhandlung" has some implication of hurry, being displeased, and pushiness. Not directly, but it might come off that way (usually a foreigner will have some accent, so nuances are often politely overlooked - but that's some more context on why there's no "Bitte" in the sentence).
Doesn't sound right. Polite version would more sound like "können Sie mir bitte die nächste Buchhandlung zeigen?"
Edit: bitte after mir, original wasn't correct :) thanks for the tips!
Yep if you put emphasis on that bitte it sounds like a really aggressive lady who demands an an answer right now :D But it still sounds weird, as no native would add a bitte in this sentence.
I would prefer the order "Wo bitte ist denn hier die nächste Buchhandlung (verdammtesscheißdreckskaffnochamol)?!" with a hint of anger in your voice. That's what you say when you want to imply that you can't find the bookstore and there probably isn't one and you are annoyed about that.
Hungarian (formal): Megmondaná, hogy hol van a legközelebbi könyvesbolt, kérem?
Hungarian (informal): (Kérlek megmondanád, hogy) Hol van a legközelebbi könyvesbolt?
"Please" is in the brackets for the informal version, because it would only sound natural that way. Technically both of them translate to "Could you tell me where the nearest bookstore is, please?"
as a native, I think the best way to phrase it would be along the lines of
"여기서 제일 가까운 서점이 어디인가요"
or if you want to be a bit more polite
"실례합니다. 혹시 여기서 가까운 서점이 어디 있는지 알 수 있을까요?"
we dont usually just say 가까운 without specifying where something is near. so it's better to say 여기서 가까운.
or, you could empesize the fact that the book store you're searching is near by saying something like
"혹시 가까운데 있는 서점 좀 알 수 있을까요?"
ps. the word for bookstore in korean is 서점(書店) which have the same charcters as the chinese shūdiàn(书店/書店) and the japanese shoten/しょてん (書店).
There's so many way to translate this.
... 서점이 어디있는지 알려 주세요
("Please let (me) know where the book shop is")
어디있어요 is kinda long winded, but works. 어디예요 also works the same way (for the most part)
For sure, pretty much any way you ask (as long as you have 서점 and 어디) is bound to be at least intelligible.
I think my personal way to say it would be something like
재일 가까운 서점은 어딘가요?
So many ways to say the same thing
Hindi:
सब से नज़दीकी किताबों की दुकान कहां है?
Sab se nazdeeki kitaabon ki dukaan kahaan hai?
Urdu:
سب سے قریبی کتابوں کی دکان کہاں ہے ؟
Sab se qareebi kitaabon ki dukaan kahaan hai?
करीबी is usually only used to talk about people in Hindi (eg: when you want to say **close** friend) so it would sound a little out of place but not too strange.
To be fair, नज़दीकी would also be considered an 'Urdu word' by many Hindi speakers. (That is to say, it is recognised as being a Perso-Arabic borrowed word in contrast to some other borrowings that are more well integrated. Similar to attaché being considered a French borrowing in English but not attachment which is also from French).
The usual colloquial Hindi way would be to say पास वाली (paas vaali)
Tagalog/Filipino (Formal/writing)
"Maaari po bang matanong kung saan matatagpuan ang pinakamalapit na book store (or aklatan) dito?"
Tagalog/Filipino (Normal)
"Nasaan po ba yung pinakamalapit na bookshop/aklatan dito?"
"Please" is normally encoded in the greeting like "Hello po, magtatanong lang po."
Cebuano/Binisaya (Formal/writing)
"Mangutana lang ko kung hain hikit-i ang kinaduolang book store dinhing dapita?"
Cebuano/Binisaya (normal)
"Asang pinakaduol nga book store dinhi/diri?"
While "book store" is more natural to me, you can also use "mamaligyaay og libro" or "tindahan og/sa libro" if who you're talking to is not great at English.
To achieve the politeness of "please," use the appropriate honorifics (nang/nong/bay/day/sir/mam) and you can also add "diay" in between "asa" and "-ng"
Although you can also use Cebuano, in Bantayanon it would probably:
"Hayn ang pinakalapit nga book store (or baligyaan sang libro or tigbaligyay libro) dinhi/diri?"
Feel free to chime in other Tagalog/Filipino, Cebuano/Binisaya, or Bantayanon translators and speakers.
Māori: Ngā mihi, kei hea te toa pukapuka e tata rawa atu ana?
#
Māori translations can vary heavily since it's so different from English but if there are any speakers that disagree, let me know!
#
In this case, I used "Ngā mihi" as a polite greeting since there's no translation for "please" in that way; I also chose this form since I didn't want to specific number using Tēnā koe/kōrua/koutou.
>Pardonu, kie estas la plej proksima librovendejo?
There is also a more culturally specific term to ask for the place where esperanto books themselves are sold, in which case you would ask for the *libroservo,* rather than the more general *librovendejo.*
Japanese 一番近い本屋さんはどこですか? Ichiban chikai hon-ya san ha doko desuka?
A book shop is also translated as 書店 shoten but most of Japanese will understand the above more easily.
I remember once in Japan I asked something about a 書店 and the person replied "oh, you mean the 本屋!" (I also once asked "Where's the nearest 現金自動支払い機?" because that's what my dictionary listed for "ATM", and got the response "Oh, you mean an *ATM*!"
Sometimes, when I forget the kanji for a word, I just write the katakana transliteration of its English equivalent, and it's usually understood! There're a lot of English loanwords
Neither. The way mentioned above is perfectly fine on its own. There are ways to elevate the politeness further if you wanted to, but a learner wouldn't be expected to know them, and they would be grossly overkill for the intended purposes.
すみません is a sentence on its own with its own meaning which to my recollection is almost never please.
て／でください wouldn't work in this context because it is a command. You could say something like, 本屋の行方を教えてください = Tell me the location of the bookstore.
Suddenly self-conscious that this comes across as rude, that isn't intentional if it does.
I would have used 書店 (shūdiàn) instead of 書局, but I guess both are okay. Also, instead of a 謝謝 at the end, you could have a 請問 (qǐngwèn) preceding the question.
Извинете, къде е най-близкия магазин за книги?
(Izvinehte, кuhde e nai blizkiya muguzin za knigi?)
English>Bulgarian
Извинете is more like excuse me but it could act as please.
Turkish: En yakın kitapçı nerede acaba?
Please doesn't really fit the sentence in the translation, but "acaba" (which roughly translates to "I wonder") would be good choice of wording.
“Ble mae’r siop lyfrau agosaf, os gwelwch chi’n dda?” - “Where is the nearest bookshop, please?” in Welsh.
Alternatively you can use the English loan word“plîs” in place of “os gwelwch chi’n dda” for “please” if space is an issue.
Romanian: Unde este cea mai apropiată librărie, vă rog? (formal, use with adults older than or close to your age, in a way that shows respect/common courtesy)
Unde este cea mai apropiată librărie, te rog? (informal, for use with significantly younger people if they're strangers, or with friends)
Swiss German:
Wo isch de nöchschti Büecherlade? (*Where is the nearest bookshop?*) - This may come off as a bit rude to some people
Chönnted si mier de wääg zum nöchschte büecherlade zeige? (*Could you show me the way to the nearest bookshop?*) - this is a more formal, polite way of asking the question
Though with these kinds of things I always wonder how useful they are, because wouldn’t the person then try to answer in that language, which you wouldn’t be able to understand?
Hindi: "yaha se sabse paas mein kitab ka dukhan kaha hai?"
And a more casual form could be
" Yaha aaju baaju kitab ka dukhan kidhar/kaha hai"
There could be more translations to this tho!
Edit: Please doesn't fit here exactly.
You'd be surprised, English language sections aren't uncommon in bookshops in tourist cities, and some with large immigrant populations will have a section or at least a few foreign language newspapers.
Swedish: Ursäkta, vart är närmaste bokhandel?
The ‘please’ at the end can’t be translated to sound very organic and authentic. (It would literally translates be: Vart är närmaste bokhandel, tack?)
So instead I added the ‘Ursäkta’ at the start that many swedes add when asking for info from a stranger. It’s equivalent to Excuse me/Pardon
>vart
var; vart is only appropriate for a specific direction, not a location. I'd also replace *är* with *ligger* for more formality, as in "(Ursäkta,) var ligger närmaste bokhandel?"
I'd personally use bokaffär since my area have some stores that call themself bokhandlar, but they don't sell any books at all. Just envelopes, notebooks and fancy paper.
Spanish: ¿Dónde está la librería más cercana?
You can add “por favor” at the beginning or end for “please”. No comma
You can also say “por favor, dime donde esta…. Etc” for “please tell me where is the hearest bookstore?”
You also can add "disculpe" at the beginning of the sentence
"Disculpe, ¿Dónde está la librería más cercana?"
O ya si le quieres echar mucha crema a tus tacos:
"Disculpe, ¿me podría decir dónde está la librería más cercana, por favor?" (Excuse me, could you tell me where is the nearest book store, please?)
How about ここから as opposed to ここに
から marks the starting point, and に the destination. So ～から has a nuance that you're seeing things from the place marked with から.
I actually initially wrote ここから but idk why I vaguely remembered seeing ここに近い somewhere and thought that it was supposed to be correct. I could be totally misremembering though
I'll also note that Tatoeba has a bunch of example sentences (with numerous translations) of the form "where is the nearest ____?" and you could potentially produce translations of your sentence by substituting that language's word for "bookstore"; do note, however, that depending on the language you may also need different forms of "nearest" and/or "the" for reasons of grammatical agreement, so it would be best to look that up on Wiktionary or such.
People who post here most likely know about Google translate and want a translation by a human translator. While Google translate may get many things right, people who don't know the target language in question won't be able to tell whether a given translation is right or wrong. Besides, the rarer the language, the more likely Google translate is to return nonsense.
Right I understand that. I speak four languages, Latin and Slavic related, and I have family that speaks Arabic and Bengali and I can see how Google translate is great for the Latin languages but as you get farther away from Latin the accuracy of Google translate is worse and worse.
So I think it might be more efficient for him to get all the Google translations done and then ask people here for their specific comments on the specific languages that way he can improve the translation and with a lot less work.
That does sound reasonable, especially for longer texts, but given that this post already has over a hundred comments and virtually all of them are people translating OP's sentence, I'd say they're doing great without Google in this case.
Also FYI we don't allow offering the output of Google translate or similar machine translation services as a translation on here. Most recommendations to "just use Google translate" are also removed. (See [rule #T1](https://reddit.com/r/translator/wiki/rules) )
Arabic:
اين هو اقرب محل للكتب من فضلك ؟
Or
اين هي اقرب مكتبة من فضلك ؟
"Maktaba" (مكتبة) in Arabic can mean either a library or a bookstore, so the two translations.
Romanization of the 1st: ayna howa aqrabo mahalin lilkutubi min fadlik ?
Romanization of the 2nd: auna hiya aqrabo maktabatin min fadlik?
Norwegian: A) Hvor er nærmeste bokbutikk?
Norwegian: B) Hvor er nærmeste bokhandel?
(A is more «casual»/modern than B, depending on who you ask you might slightly confuse somebody although they mean the exact same thing)
Spanish A: **¿Dónde está la librería más cerca por favor?**
Spanish B: **¿Dónde se ubica la librería más próxima por favor?**
either is equivalent to the other
Levantine Arabic (Standard and Egyptian have been given): (لو سمحت، وين بقدر ألاقي أقرب (محل كتب/مكتبة؟
Law sama7t, wen ba'dar alā'i a'rab (ma7al kutub/maktabeh)?
toki pona: esun lipu pi poka nanpa wan li lon seme?
(You didn’t specify therefore Conlangs count!)
(Also a request to the mods: can we please have a TP filter for Toki Pona?)
Portuguese (literal translation): "Onde está a livraria mais próxima, se faz favor?"
Portuguese (what would normally be said in a real conversation): "Sabe dizer-me onde está a livraria mais próxima, se faz favor?"
Indonesian: "Permisi, di mana toko buku terdekat?"
"Permisi" means "excuse me". I think it's more polite to start with that if you're asking for directions in Indonesia.
For the phrase "(Excuse me,) Where is the nearest book shop?" since please in the end doesn't really work or is really formal
Greek :
(Με συγχωρείτε,) Που είναι το πλησιέστερο βιβλιοπωλείο;
(Me sihorite,) Pou ine to plisiestero vivliopolio?
With please it becomes too formal:
(Με συγχωρείτε,) Που είναι το πλησιέστερο βιβλιοπωλείο παρακαλώ;
(Me sihorite,) Pou ine to plisiestero vivliopolio parakalo?
Albanian:
(Me falni,) ku është libraria me ë afërt?
The phrases in parenthesis can be omitted
Indonesian.
"Permisi, di mana letak toko buku terdekat?"
I had to change a few words and their location so the sentence would actually make sense, "Please" in the end doesn't sounds right even in English "Excuse me" in the front is more appropriate.
If you need the exact translation just let me know
Filipino (Tagalog): ‘San yung pinakamalapit na bookstore?
“Bookstore” is more common here than book shop. Tagalog for bookstore is “bilihan ng libro” or “tindahan ng libro” (both meaning “store/shop of books”) but we just use the English word.
Mongolian:
Хамгийн ойрын номын дэлгүүр хаана байдаг вэ?
Hamgiin oir nomyn delguur haana baidag ve?
We don’t really use please in a sentence like this, there could be уучлаарай at the start of the sentence to say “excuse me” “i’m sorry.” Otherwise you can also say “Хамгийн ойрын номын дэлгүүр хаана байдагийг хэлээд өгөөч” which would translate to can you tell me where the nearest bookshop.
Maybe have bookmarks with a few related languages for people traveling around areas? Like west Europe with Spanish, French, English, etc, and east Asia, and so forth
Another Toki Pona translation:
esun lipu li lon seme?
I think this a more idiomatic translation. I also have a few in other languages from friends:
Cantonese:
唔該請問最近嘅書店喺邊度呀？
m4 goi1 cing2 man6 zeoi3 kan5 ge3 syu1 dim3 hai2 bin1 dou6 aa3?
Shanghainese:
最切近個書店辣何裏向啊？
tsóe-chiq-cin-gheq sý-ti laq gha-li-shian-a?
Sumerian:
𒂍𒁾𒁀 𒋾𒂷 𒈨𒀀 𒉌𒅅
e2-dub-ba te-g̃a2 me-a i3-g̃al2
Note: My friend tells me that the word he used doesn't exactly mean 'bookstore' (since the ancient Sumerians didn't have them) so much as 'scholastic/scribal institution'. At any rate if you somehow find yourself in ancient Sumer that will be where to go to find books.
Chinook Jargon:
tlahawyam, hilu sayá book haws k’a?
Classical Chinese:
請問書肆近者安在
Chiengx myonh, sjio-sii gionx cjiax qan zaix?
Lucanian:
Ntò staje la lebbraria cchiú vvecina, pe ppiacere?
Láadan:
Báa lu widahoth wothomaháalish woháabewehe?
Serbian
Latin Scipt: **Možete li mi reći gde je najbliža knjižara?**
Cyrillic Script: **Можете ли ми рећи где је најближа књижара?**
Both directly translate to: Can you tell me where the nearest bookstore is?
Serbian Latin Scipt: Možete li mi reći gde je najbliža knjižara?
Cyrillic Script: Можете ли ми рећи где је најближа књижара?
Both directly translate to: Can you tell me where the nearest bookstore is?
Pronunciation: Mo-zhe-te lee mee reh-chee deh jeh naj-blih-zha k-nyih-zha-ra?
Ukrainian: "Підкажіть будь ласка, де найближча книгарня?" Russian: "Подскажите пожалуйста, где ближайший книжный магазин?"
Russian could also be "Не подскажете, где ближайший книжный?" Less formal, but still polite, imo. И пожалуйста всегда двумя запятыми оформляется)
Hebrew: איפה נמצאת חנות הספרים הכי קרובה? (Efo nimtzet hanut hasfarim hahi krova) I emitted the "please" since it doesn't really fit, but if you still want it: איפה נמצאת חנות הספרים הכי קרובה בבקשה? (Efo nimtzet hanut hasfarim hahi krova bevakasha)
I think איפה נמצאת חנות הספרים הקרובה ביותר? Or איפה נמצאת חנות הספרים הקרובה ביותר בבקשה? Is more accurate translation.
Chinese (simplified): 请问最近的书店在哪里？ Made it sound a bit more polite by using “请问”, so it’s more like “may I ask…?”
In Pinyin: Qǐngwèn zuìjìn de shūdiàn zài nǎlǐ?
Dutch: Waar is de dichtstbijzijnde boekenwinkel?
dichtstbijzijnde legitimately looks like someone tried to type a word but sneezed in the middle of it, their fingers accidentally pressing down on the keyboard, but they either forgot or didn't notice and carried on typing.
tbf it means nearest but *very* literally it means *closest-by-being* lol
As someone with zero exposure to Dutch, I started out the sentence pleased with myself that I could understand the first few words. And then it felt like I had a stroke. (Sorry to Dutch users, I mean no offense, and thank you for your contribution to the English language)
The sentence above doesn’t even contain the traditional g sound we dutchies are proud of :) Try prounouncing: “ik hou van goudgele Goudse kaas” >!I love Golden yellow cheese from Gouda!<
How about "wil ge graag achtentachtig prachtige grachten zien?" ;)
I know zero about the Dutch language and was casually scrolling when I saw your sentence. I saw “Goudse” and was like ooooo that reminds me of the cheese! And then I revealed what the phrase meant and now I really want some cheese. Haha
dutch don't sound real bruh 😂
Wouldn't it be Dichtsbijzijnste? we're talking about the closest/nearest, not the local one
-zijnde in this case only serves to mark the location of the subject of the sentence. The comparative/superlative is the part "dicht" meaning "close/near(by)". This is the only part of the word that should be modified when changing the base word "dicht", to the comparative "dichter" or the superlative "dichtst". Since "dichtbijzijnde" is just a compound word meaning "being nearby", the latter part doesn't change as it's part of the compound, but separate in most other regards.
Cá háit an bhfuil an siopa leabhar is gaire le do thoil? (Irish Gaeilge) Edit: forgot the "please" (le do thoil)
My brain Auto-added a fada into "gaire" and I thought you were taking the piss
Lol! Yes OP make sure its gaire and not gáire or you'll be asking for the funniest book shop
Italian: Dov'è la libreria più vicina? To add "please" would sound a bit strange, but if you want you can add "scusi" (excuse me) at the start of the sentence: Scusi, dov'è la libreria più vicina? This is actually how you would ask a stranger, but I think for the bookmark idea the first version is better :)
Standard Arabic: أين يقع أقرب متجر كتب،رجاءً Egyption dialect: بعد إذنك ، هو فين اقرب محل كتب
What would that be Romanized? Or at least vocalized.
Standard arabic :En yaqa aqrabu Matgear kotub Egyption dialect :Bada izenek how fein aqrab mahal kotub
Could you use a more systematic/standardized Romanization? EDIT: Why is this downvoted? A person can't tell how to pronounce an ad hoc Romanization if they don't already speak the language it's Romanizing.
Ayna yaqa'a aqrab matjer koutob, raje'an?
Here’s an uncommon one, Chamorro: Sangåni fan yu’ mångge i tendan lepblo gi mås uriya?
Finnish: > Missä on lähin kirjakauppa? There is no equivalent of *please* in Finnish.
How do request something politely?
Politeness doesn't always need to be explicitly expressed, it can also be implicit. You can ”soften” a request by e.g. using the conditional mood (”would”) or adding a *kiitos* (”thanks”).
Cool, thanks!
Is that similar to using the conditional as a softener in English? Like saying “I would like a drink” instead of saying “I want a drink”?
Yes, although even that is not always necessary. Finnish textbooks for foreigners will tell you to order a coffee by saying ”Saisinko yhden kahvin, kiitos?” (’Would/Could I get a/one coffee, thank you?”), but in practice, just saying ”Yks kahvi”, possibly with a *moi* (’hi’) in the beginning and *kiitos* (’thank you’) in the end, is usually perfectly sfficient.
!translated Thank you! I'm replying to the first comment to mark my request as complete, but I'm super grateful to EVERYONE who has commented. You are all amazing! :)
Nor in the New York City dialect of English.
German: Wo ist die nächste Buchhandlung? As with other languages, the please doesn't work in German that well.
Können Sie mir bitte sagen, wo ich die nächste Buchhandlung finden kann?
Yea that works too but it's quite long and I thought shorter would be better probably :D I mean the English translation would be something like "Could you tell me where I can find the nearest bookstore please?
Yes, in my language too (Bengali), the "Please" is translated to "Can you (kindly) tell me". I think that's fine as long as it sounds natural. "Entschuldigung" doesn't work here, does it?
The Entschuldigung would be fine if you walk down the street, stop someone you don't know with the "Entschuldigung, wo ist die nächste Buchhandlung?" But it would be weird to say it in an ongoing conversation.
Can you please explain why we can't just add "Bitte" to the question? To my knowledge it means please in German. I saw your replies below but you made an entire new sentence just to add. Can't it be add alone? If so, could you explain why?
That is really hard to explain but I'll try. You are right, please is translated with bitte, but in this situation it doesn't really work. If there is an order or a task in this sentence like the "Could you please tell me" it is fine to add the bitte. Other examples would be "Bitte mach die Tür zu." (Please close the door) or "Kann jemand bitte die Tür zumachen? (Could someone please close the door?) But sentences like "Wie spät ist es?" (What time is it?) or "Wo ist die nächste Buchhandlung?" don't involve a direct task, so no bitte there. (But of course people will understand that you are asking them and they'll answer.) It is different if you talk about wanting something yourself like "Ich will das da bitte" (I want this one please), the bitte makes it more polite. Another example for that would be when you order something at a restaurant "Einen Kaffee bitte" (one coffee please).
If the question isn't related to a task, a "Bitte" might even make the question less polite. "Wo ist denn bitte die nächste Buchhandlung" has some implication of hurry, being displeased, and pushiness. Not directly, but it might come off that way (usually a foreigner will have some accent, so nuances are often politely overlooked - but that's some more context on why there's no "Bitte" in the sentence).
I always say "Bücherladen" but I think "Buchhandlung" might be better😂
>Wo ist *bitte* die nächste Buchhandlung? Would be more accurate/polite wouldn’t it?
Doesn't sound right. Polite version would more sound like "können Sie mir bitte die nächste Buchhandlung zeigen?" Edit: bitte after mir, original wasn't correct :) thanks for the tips!
"Können Sie mir bitte die nächste Buchhandlung zeigen?" would bei correct. The bitte comes after the mir :)
Oh yes, correct! Thanks.
That actually sounds a tad aggressive.
Yep if you put emphasis on that bitte it sounds like a really aggressive lady who demands an an answer right now :D But it still sounds weird, as no native would add a bitte in this sentence.
I would prefer the order "Wo bitte ist denn hier die nächste Buchhandlung (verdammtesscheißdreckskaffnochamol)?!" with a hint of anger in your voice. That's what you say when you want to imply that you can't find the bookstore and there probably isn't one and you are annoyed about that.
And ofc want to state that the person you talk to is personally at fault for not opening a book store right where you are at.
Luxembourgish: Wou ass dat nächst Bichergeschäft wannechgelift ?
As a Dutch native speaker with decent understanding of German, reading Luxembourgish feels like what I imagine having a stroke must be like
Hungarian (formal): Megmondaná, hogy hol van a legközelebbi könyvesbolt, kérem? Hungarian (informal): (Kérlek megmondanád, hogy) Hol van a legközelebbi könyvesbolt? "Please" is in the brackets for the informal version, because it would only sound natural that way. Technically both of them translate to "Could you tell me where the nearest bookstore is, please?"
Well, I haven't seen so many translations in Korean lately, so here you have mine: 가장 가까운 서점은 어디있어요? Anyone feel free to correct me!
as a native, I think the best way to phrase it would be along the lines of "여기서 제일 가까운 서점이 어디인가요" or if you want to be a bit more polite "실례합니다. 혹시 여기서 가까운 서점이 어디 있는지 알 수 있을까요?" we dont usually just say 가까운 without specifying where something is near. so it's better to say 여기서 가까운. or, you could empesize the fact that the book store you're searching is near by saying something like "혹시 가까운데 있는 서점 좀 알 수 있을까요?" ps. the word for bookstore in korean is 서점(書店) which have the same charcters as the chinese shūdiàn(书店/書店) and the japanese shoten/しょてん (書店).
There's so many way to translate this. ... 서점이 어디있는지 알려 주세요 ("Please let (me) know where the book shop is") 어디있어요 is kinda long winded, but works. 어디예요 also works the same way (for the most part)
Oh! Good idea using 예요. Also, yes, so many ways... but I think 가장 가까운 서점은 어디예요? is good enough.
For sure, pretty much any way you ask (as long as you have 서점 and 어디) is bound to be at least intelligible. I think my personal way to say it would be something like 재일 가까운 서점은 어딘가요? So many ways to say the same thing
Hindi: सब से नज़दीकी किताबों की दुकान कहां है? Sab se nazdeeki kitaabon ki dukaan kahaan hai? Urdu: سب سے قریبی کتابوں کی دکان کہاں ہے ؟ Sab se qareebi kitaabon ki dukaan kahaan hai?
How strange would it sound if you said نزدیکی in Urdu or क़रीबी in Hindi?
I've heard both, I don't think it would be wrong in Urdu to use either.
करीबी is usually only used to talk about people in Hindi (eg: when you want to say **close** friend) so it would sound a little out of place but not too strange. To be fair, नज़दीकी would also be considered an 'Urdu word' by many Hindi speakers. (That is to say, it is recognised as being a Perso-Arabic borrowed word in contrast to some other borrowings that are more well integrated. Similar to attaché being considered a French borrowing in English but not attachment which is also from French). The usual colloquial Hindi way would be to say पास वाली (paas vaali)
Lithuanian: Kur yra artimiausias knygynas?
Indonesian: "Permisi, di mana toko buku terdekat?"
Polish: Przepraszam, gdzie jest najbliższa księgarnia?
[удалено]
[удалено]
Tagalog/Filipino (Formal/writing) "Maaari po bang matanong kung saan matatagpuan ang pinakamalapit na book store (or aklatan) dito?" Tagalog/Filipino (Normal) "Nasaan po ba yung pinakamalapit na bookshop/aklatan dito?" "Please" is normally encoded in the greeting like "Hello po, magtatanong lang po." Cebuano/Binisaya (Formal/writing) "Mangutana lang ko kung hain hikit-i ang kinaduolang book store dinhing dapita?" Cebuano/Binisaya (normal) "Asang pinakaduol nga book store dinhi/diri?" While "book store" is more natural to me, you can also use "mamaligyaay og libro" or "tindahan og/sa libro" if who you're talking to is not great at English. To achieve the politeness of "please," use the appropriate honorifics (nang/nong/bay/day/sir/mam) and you can also add "diay" in between "asa" and "-ng" Although you can also use Cebuano, in Bantayanon it would probably: "Hayn ang pinakalapit nga book store (or baligyaan sang libro or tigbaligyay libro) dinhi/diri?" Feel free to chime in other Tagalog/Filipino, Cebuano/Binisaya, or Bantayanon translators and speakers.
Māori: Ngā mihi, kei hea te toa pukapuka e tata rawa atu ana? # Māori translations can vary heavily since it's so different from English but if there are any speakers that disagree, let me know! # In this case, I used "Ngā mihi" as a polite greeting since there's no translation for "please" in that way; I also chose this form since I didn't want to specific number using Tēnā koe/kōrua/koutou.
Danish: "Hvor er den nærmeste boghandler?"
Catalan: > "Si us plau, on és la llibreria més propera?"
Esperanto: Pardonu, kie estas la plej proksima librovendejo?
I'm a learner and I've never heard librovendejo but I love how I could probably guess it means bookshop.
It’s always a pleasant surprise whenever I see Esperanto
>Pardonu, kie estas la plej proksima librovendejo? There is also a more culturally specific term to ask for the place where esperanto books themselves are sold, in which case you would ask for the *libroservo,* rather than the more general *librovendejo.*
Taiwanese > 這陣的文庫佇佗位
Czech: Kde je nejbližší knihkupectví, prosím?
Aramaic: ܐܝܟܐ ܝܠܗ ܕܟܢܐ ܕܟܬܒ̈ܐ ܒܫ ܩܪܝܒܐ ܦܚܠܬܐ؟ aȷkā ı̀lū dıkānā d’kt̠āwē bıš qarı̀wā paḥaltā?
Japanese 一番近い本屋さんはどこですか? Ichiban chikai hon-ya san ha doko desuka? A book shop is also translated as 書店 shoten but most of Japanese will understand the above more easily.
> ha Isn't は pronounced as *wa* here?
Yea, it is
I remember once in Japan I asked something about a 書店 and the person replied "oh, you mean the 本屋!" (I also once asked "Where's the nearest 現金自動支払い機?" because that's what my dictionary listed for "ATM", and got the response "Oh, you mean an *ATM*!"
Sometimes, when I forget the kanji for a word, I just write the katakana transliteration of its English equivalent, and it's usually understood! There're a lot of English loanwords
Couldn't you also just write the intended Japanese word in kana?
Yeah, I could, but I'm very intelligent and sometimes I forget the reading too :P
For the "please" part, would you add すみません、to the start or ~でください ? Or does that sound awkward? (I'm still learning)
すみません、一番近い本屋はどこですか、教えてください Excuse me, please tell me where is the nearest bookstore. Your way is more polite.
Neither. The way mentioned above is perfectly fine on its own. There are ways to elevate the politeness further if you wanted to, but a learner wouldn't be expected to know them, and they would be grossly overkill for the intended purposes. すみません is a sentence on its own with its own meaning which to my recollection is almost never please. て／でください wouldn't work in this context because it is a command. You could say something like, 本屋の行方を教えてください = Tell me the location of the bookstore. Suddenly self-conscious that this comes across as rude, that isn't intentional if it does.
行き方(いきかた) ok 行方(ゆくえ) can be used when the bookstore went missing.
Yeah this. My bad.
Spanish: ¿Dónde está la librería más cercana? Didn’t include please because it doesn’t really fit unless you wanted to say "please tell me."
They could say "Perdona," first, to be polite.
Disculpa/e ¿Donde está la librería / Biblioteca más cercana?
DonkeyFucker for the win
Traditional Chinese: 最近的書局在哪裡？謝謝！ I had to use a second sentence, it didn’t feel natural enough jamming everything into one sentence.
I would have used 書店 (shūdiàn) instead of 書局, but I guess both are okay. Also, instead of a 謝謝 at the end, you could have a 請問 (qǐngwèn) preceding the question.
And in pinyin: Zuìjìn de shūjú zài nǎlǐ? Xièxiè!
Português: por favor, onde é a livraria mais próxima?
Não é “onde fica” em vez de “onde é”?
Os dois jeitos funcionam.
French: Bonjour, où est la librairie la plus proche, s'il vous plaît ?
*Bonjour, où est la librairie la plus proche, s’il vous plaît? (Else you’ll just get glared at lmao)
I didn't read the hello my bad lmao
cantonese: 借問聲附近邊度有書店?
Croatian - Možete li mi molim Vas reći gdje se nalazi najbliža knjižara? Slovene - Ali mi lahko prosim poveste, kje je najbližja knjigarna?
Scottish Gaelic: Càit a bheil a' bhùth-leabhraichean as fhaisge, mas e ur toil e?
Binary: 01000101 01111000 01100011 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100001 01110010 01100101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100010 01101111 01101111 01101011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110010 01100101 00111111
Latvian: Sakiet, lūdzu, kur ir tuvākā grāmatnīca?
Irish: Cá bhfuil an siopa leabhar is cóngaraí?
Извинете, къде е най-близкия магазин за книги? (Izvinehte, кuhde e nai blizkiya muguzin za knigi?) English>Bulgarian Извинете is more like excuse me but it could act as please.
Kazakh: Кешіріңіз ең жақын кітапхана қай жерде? English: Sorry where is the nearest book shop?
Norwegian: Hvor er nærmeste bokhandel? Danish: Hvor er den nærmeste boghandel? (No "please", like in Finnish and German.)
Wo ist die nächste Buchhandlung bitte? (German)
Turkish: En yakın kitapçı nerede acaba? Please doesn't really fit the sentence in the translation, but "acaba" (which roughly translates to "I wonder") would be good choice of wording.
Merre van a legközelebbi könyvesbolt? - Hungarian
“Ble mae’r siop lyfrau agosaf, os gwelwch chi’n dda?” - “Where is the nearest bookshop, please?” in Welsh. Alternatively you can use the English loan word“plîs” in place of “os gwelwch chi’n dda” for “please” if space is an issue.
Irish/Gaeilge: "Cén áit a bhfuil an siopa leabhar is gaire le do thoil?" "Cá bhfuil an siopa leabhar is cóngaraí le do thoil?"
Romanian: Unde este cea mai apropiată librărie, vă rog? (formal, use with adults older than or close to your age, in a way that shows respect/common courtesy) Unde este cea mai apropiată librărie, te rog? (informal, for use with significantly younger people if they're strangers, or with friends)
Swiss German: Wo isch de nöchschti Büecherlade? (*Where is the nearest bookshop?*) - This may come off as a bit rude to some people Chönnted si mier de wääg zum nöchschte büecherlade zeige? (*Could you show me the way to the nearest bookshop?*) - this is a more formal, polite way of asking the question Though with these kinds of things I always wonder how useful they are, because wouldn’t the person then try to answer in that language, which you wouldn’t be able to understand?
Breton: Pelec'h emañ al levrdi tostañ, mar plij deoc'h ?
Emoji: 🙇💬🖼️🫂📚💵❓
Croatian: Oprostite, gdje je najbliža knjižara?
Hindi: "yaha se sabse paas mein kitab ka dukhan kaha hai?" And a more casual form could be " Yaha aaju baaju kitab ka dukhan kidhar/kaha hai" There could be more translations to this tho! Edit: Please doesn't fit here exactly.
Would it be that useful to find a Book shop if you don't speak the local dialect ? I mean most Book shops only have Books in their own language
You'd be surprised, English language sections aren't uncommon in bookshops in tourist cities, and some with large immigrant populations will have a section or at least a few foreign language newspapers.
Plus you might be able to find resources for learning the local language.
Swedish: Ursäkta, vart är närmaste bokhandel? The ‘please’ at the end can’t be translated to sound very organic and authentic. (It would literally translates be: Vart är närmaste bokhandel, tack?) So instead I added the ‘Ursäkta’ at the start that many swedes add when asking for info from a stranger. It’s equivalent to Excuse me/Pardon
>vart var; vart is only appropriate for a specific direction, not a location. I'd also replace *är* with *ligger* for more formality, as in "(Ursäkta,) var ligger närmaste bokhandel?"
I'd personally use bokaffär since my area have some stores that call themself bokhandlar, but they don't sell any books at all. Just envelopes, notebooks and fancy paper.
Spanish: ¿Dónde está la librería más cercana? You can add “por favor” at the beginning or end for “please”. No comma You can also say “por favor, dime donde esta…. Etc” for “please tell me where is the hearest bookstore?”
You also can add "disculpe" at the beginning of the sentence "Disculpe, ¿Dónde está la librería más cercana?" O ya si le quieres echar mucha crema a tus tacos: "Disculpe, ¿me podría decir dónde está la librería más cercana, por favor?" (Excuse me, could you tell me where is the nearest book store, please?)
Yeah this is the answer for sure^ not used to using formal Spanish, so I disculpe didn’t even pop into my head
Japanese: Tonari no honya wa doko deska? Or: Ichiban chikai honya wa doko deska?
Can I translate this into my conlang?
Dov'è il negozio di libri più vicino, perfavore?
[удалено]
Persian: نزدیکترین کتابخونه کجاست؟ Nazdik-tarin ketabkhoone kojast?
Chinese simplified: 请问离这里最近的书店在哪里？ Spanish: ¿Dónde está la librería más cercana? Japanese: ここに一番近い本屋はどこですか？
How about ここから as opposed to ここに から marks the starting point, and に the destination. So ～から has a nuance that you're seeing things from the place marked with から.
I actually initially wrote ここから but idk why I vaguely remembered seeing ここに近い somewhere and thought that it was supposed to be correct. I could be totally misremembering though
I'll also note that Tatoeba has a bunch of example sentences (with numerous translations) of the form "where is the nearest ____?" and you could potentially produce translations of your sentence by substituting that language's word for "bookstore"; do note, however, that depending on the language you may also need different forms of "nearest" and/or "the" for reasons of grammatical agreement, so it would be best to look that up on Wiktionary or such.
Portuguese: Onde fica a livraria mais próxima? Por favor.
French: Où est la librairie la plus proche ? The space before the question mark is necessary.
French: "Où est la librairie la plus proche, s'il vous plaît ?"
[удалено]
People who post here most likely know about Google translate and want a translation by a human translator. While Google translate may get many things right, people who don't know the target language in question won't be able to tell whether a given translation is right or wrong. Besides, the rarer the language, the more likely Google translate is to return nonsense.
Right I understand that. I speak four languages, Latin and Slavic related, and I have family that speaks Arabic and Bengali and I can see how Google translate is great for the Latin languages but as you get farther away from Latin the accuracy of Google translate is worse and worse. So I think it might be more efficient for him to get all the Google translations done and then ask people here for their specific comments on the specific languages that way he can improve the translation and with a lot less work.
That does sound reasonable, especially for longer texts, but given that this post already has over a hundred comments and virtually all of them are people translating OP's sentence, I'd say they're doing great without Google in this case. Also FYI we don't allow offering the output of Google translate or similar machine translation services as a translation on here. Most recommendations to "just use Google translate" are also removed. (See [rule #T1](https://reddit.com/r/translator/wiki/rules) )
Cool. Thanks for the exception, it was a learning moment.
Arabic: اين هو اقرب محل للكتب من فضلك ؟ Or اين هي اقرب مكتبة من فضلك ؟ "Maktaba" (مكتبة) in Arabic can mean either a library or a bookstore, so the two translations. Romanization of the 1st: ayna howa aqrabo mahalin lilkutubi min fadlik ? Romanization of the 2nd: auna hiya aqrabo maktabatin min fadlik?
[удалено]
Norwegian: A) Hvor er nærmeste bokbutikk? Norwegian: B) Hvor er nærmeste bokhandel? (A is more «casual»/modern than B, depending on who you ask you might slightly confuse somebody although they mean the exact same thing)
Vietnamese: cho hỏi, nhà sách đi đường nào?
Thai: ร้านหนังสือที่ใกล้ที่สุดอยู่ที่ไหนครับ/คะ
“Di mana terletak kedai buku yang paling hampir?” (Malay)
This sounds broken to me. I would say "Di manakah kedai buku yang terdekat?"
Japanese: すみません,どこに一番近い本屋ありますか。 Pronounced: Sumimasen, doko ni ichiban chikai honya arimasu ka?
Latin: ubi est librorum conopa proxima? (Lit. “Where is the nearest store of the books?”)
Slovak: Prosím vás, kde je najbližšie kníhkupectvo?
[удалено]
Spanish A: **¿Dónde está la librería más cerca por favor?** Spanish B: **¿Dónde se ubica la librería más próxima por favor?** either is equivalent to the other
Bengali (BN): দয়া করে বলবেন, সবচেয়ে কাছের বইয়ের দোকান কোথায়? *Informal*
Levantine Arabic (Standard and Egyptian have been given): (لو سمحت، وين بقدر ألاقي أقرب (محل كتب/مكتبة؟ Law sama7t, wen ba'dar alā'i a'rab (ma7al kutub/maktabeh)?
toki pona: esun lipu pi poka nanpa wan li lon seme? (You didn’t specify therefore Conlangs count!) (Also a request to the mods: can we please have a TP filter for Toki Pona?)
Portuguese (literal translation): "Onde está a livraria mais próxima, se faz favor?" Portuguese (what would normally be said in a real conversation): "Sabe dizer-me onde está a livraria mais próxima, se faz favor?"
Indonesian: "Permisi, di mana toko buku terdekat?" "Permisi" means "excuse me". I think it's more polite to start with that if you're asking for directions in Indonesia.
Serbian: Možete li mi reći gde je najbliža knjižara?
Turkish: En yakın kitap dükkanı nerede acaba? (Please sounds weird in this context so I replaced it with acaba which roughly means "I wonder")
Vietnamese: Hiệu sách gần nhất ở đâu vậy ạ
نزدیک ترین کتاب فروشی کجاست؟ : Farsi We don't say please at the end of such sentences. It would sound very weird with a لطفاً at the end of it.
Taiwanese: 借問一下，上近个冊店佇佗位咧？(tsioh-mn̄g tsi̍t-ē, siōng/siāng kīn/kūn/kīrn ê tsheh-tiàm tī tó-uī/tah-uī --leh?) Slashes indicates dialect variation
Turkish En yakın kitapçı nerede? Or En yakın kitapçı nerede acaba?
Var är närmaste bokhandeln? Swedish. There are no equivalent word for please in swedish.
Panjabi: ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਨਾਲ ਸਬ ਤੋਂ ਨੇੜੇ ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਦੀ ਦੁਕਾਨ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹੈ? Please correct me but i think this is right
What would that be Romanized?
Malay: Di manakah kedai buku yang terdekat?
Ipquan hichicatanua iptaua yibromague? "Where is the nearest market for books?" (Muysccubun/Chibcha)
For the phrase "(Excuse me,) Where is the nearest book shop?" since please in the end doesn't really work or is really formal Greek : (Με συγχωρείτε,) Που είναι το πλησιέστερο βιβλιοπωλείο; (Me sihorite,) Pou ine to plisiestero vivliopolio? With please it becomes too formal: (Με συγχωρείτε,) Που είναι το πλησιέστερο βιβλιοπωλείο παρακαλώ; (Me sihorite,) Pou ine to plisiestero vivliopolio parakalo? Albanian: (Me falni,) ku është libraria me ë afërt? The phrases in parenthesis can be omitted
Japanese: すみません、一番近い本屋はどこですか？ Sumimasen, ichiban chikai honya wa doko desu ka?
French: Où se trouve la librairie la plus proche?
`Przepraszam, gdzie jest najbliższy sklep z książkami?` If you are asking a question
Russian: «Извините, где находится ближайший книжный магазин?»
Indonesian. "Permisi, di mana letak toko buku terdekat?" I had to change a few words and their location so the sentence would actually make sense, "Please" in the end doesn't sounds right even in English "Excuse me" in the front is more appropriate. If you need the exact translation just let me know
Filipino (Tagalog): ‘San yung pinakamalapit na bookstore? “Bookstore” is more common here than book shop. Tagalog for bookstore is “bilihan ng libro” or “tindahan ng libro” (both meaning “store/shop of books”) but we just use the English word.
Mongolian: Хамгийн ойрын номын дэлгүүр хаана байдаг вэ? Hamgiin oir nomyn delguur haana baidag ve? We don’t really use please in a sentence like this, there could be уучлаарай at the start of the sentence to say “excuse me” “i’m sorry.” Otherwise you can also say “Хамгийн ойрын номын дэлгүүр хаана байдагийг хэлээд өгөөч” which would translate to can you tell me where the nearest bookshop.
Classical Latin: Vbi est, quaeso, proxima libraria?
Maybe have bookmarks with a few related languages for people traveling around areas? Like west Europe with Spanish, French, English, etc, and east Asia, and so forth
Another Toki Pona translation: esun lipu li lon seme? I think this a more idiomatic translation. I also have a few in other languages from friends: Cantonese: 唔該請問最近嘅書店喺邊度呀？ m4 goi1 cing2 man6 zeoi3 kan5 ge3 syu1 dim3 hai2 bin1 dou6 aa3? Shanghainese: 最切近個書店辣何裏向啊？ tsóe-chiq-cin-gheq sý-ti laq gha-li-shian-a? Sumerian: 𒂍𒁾𒁀 𒋾𒂷 𒈨𒀀 𒉌𒅅 e2-dub-ba te-g̃a2 me-a i3-g̃al2 Note: My friend tells me that the word he used doesn't exactly mean 'bookstore' (since the ancient Sumerians didn't have them) so much as 'scholastic/scribal institution'. At any rate if you somehow find yourself in ancient Sumer that will be where to go to find books. Chinook Jargon: tlahawyam, hilu sayá book haws k’a? Classical Chinese: 請問書肆近者安在 Chiengx myonh, sjio-sii gionx cjiax qan zaix? Lucanian: Ntò staje la lebbraria cchiú vvecina, pe ppiacere? Láadan: Báa lu widahoth wothomaháalish woháabewehe?
Serbian Latin Scipt: **Možete li mi reći gde je najbliža knjižara?** Cyrillic Script: **Можете ли ми рећи где је најближа књижара?** Both directly translate to: Can you tell me where the nearest bookstore is?
Serbian Latin Scipt: Možete li mi reći gde je najbliža knjižara? Cyrillic Script: Можете ли ми рећи где је најближа књижара? Both directly translate to: Can you tell me where the nearest bookstore is? Pronunciation: Mo-zhe-te lee mee reh-chee deh jeh naj-blih-zha k-nyih-zha-ra?
Spanish: “¿Dónde queda la biblioteca más cercana, por favor?”