# 'You are here': in the official European languages (long, sorry) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702 "2011-03-06T20:44:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![udlander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/43a26b/32.png) [@udlander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/udlander)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/1 "2011-03-06T20:44:35Z")
Do you speak one of the [offical languages of the European Union](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union)? (Apart from English, obviously. I _think_ I got that one covered. And Danish, sort of) I am putting together a poster with the phrase ‘you are here’ - as commonly found on street plans or local maps in close association with a little red dot - in the above-mentioned languages. I am sticking with the official languages right now. Obviously, first port of call was Google translate, followed by searches of local google engines looking for images of maps with the associated phrase. Instances with a positive hit I marked with ‘\*’. However, while in Austria recently, I noticed that instead of ‘Sie sind hier’, ‘Ihr standort’ was used. Also, some of the translations came up with various capitalizations, some of which I am uncertain about. So I thought I had best check in with the experts… My list so far: bulgarian \* Вие сте тук czech Nacházíte se zde danish \* du er her dutch \* u bent hier english \* you are here estonian Olete siin finnish \* Olet tässä french \* vous êtes ici german Sie sind hier greek \* βρίσκεστε εδώ hungarian Ön most itt van irish \* Tá tú anseo italian \* tu sei qui latvian Jūs esat šeit lithuanian \* Jūs esate čia maltese inti hawn polish \* Jesteś tutaj portuguese \* Você está aqui romanian Sunteţi aici slovak Nachádzate sa tu slovene ste tukaj spanish \* Usted está aquí swedish Du är här So if you can verify any of the above or have better alternatives, I would like to here from you. Thanks for reading this far. I was here (and will be back tomorrow:) ) ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/2 "2011-03-06T21:00:26Z")
As best I can tell, “ihr standort” essentially means “your location”, which is only semantically different from “you are here.” FWIW, “Sie sind hier” is the formal usage, but what you would probably encounter on street signs or maps or whatnot. If you were using this for friends, you would use the familiar “Du bist hier.” ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/3 "2011-03-06T21:05:51Z")
Irish is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Kamrusepas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@Kamrusepas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamrusepas)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/4 "2011-03-06T21:07:12Z")
Finnish is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/5 "2011-03-06T21:15:59Z")
French looks okay. Better get a good French speaker to confirm that; there’s probably some idiom I don’t know that people use instead. (And for the non-official list: _Vi estas tie ĉi._ (Esperanto)) ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/6 "2011-03-06T21:37:26Z")
Dutch is correct (confirmed with a local). ---
**Author:** ![aesop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@aesop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aesop)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/7 "2011-03-06T21:39:28Z")
For the Hungarian phrase you can drop the “most”, which means “now”. “Ön itt van” is literally “You are here.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/8 "2011-03-06T21:47:44Z")
Not really on topic, but my favorite anecdote about “you are here” is the sign I once saw in Japan which said, in English, “Standing Now”. Looking at the kanji, which I was able to understand since it was rather simple, I could see what the translator was getting at. The perils of literal translations. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/9 "2011-03-06T22:07:42Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > French looks okay. Better get a good French speaker to confirm that; there’s probably some idiom I don’t know that people use instead. Confirmed. That’s what is written on maps in France. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/10 "2011-03-06T22:21:30Z")
Spanish and Portuguese are correct, inasmuch as the vocabulary words are correct. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/11 "2011-03-06T23:02:12Z")
Also, since I don’t think there’s a native speaker around, the Lithuanian is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/12 "2011-03-06T23:16:39Z")
Too bad it doesn’t include what’s on Korean subway maps. My favorite is one in Daegu which has, in English, “You be right here.” Warmed my Southern heart, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/13 "2011-03-07T00:51:02Z")
> [@udlander](#): > > Do you speak one of the [offical languages of the European Union](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union)? (Apart from English, obviously. I _think_ I got that one covered. And Danish, sort of) > > I am putting together a poster with the phrase ‘you are here’ - as commonly found on street plans or local maps in close association with a little red dot - in the above-mentioned languages. I am sticking with the official languages right now. > > Obviously, first port of call was Google translate, followed by searches of local google engines looking for images of maps with the associated phrase. Instances with a positive hit I marked with ‘\*’. However, while in Austria recently, I noticed that instead of ‘Sie sind hier’, ‘Ihr standort’ was used. Also, some of the translations came up with various capitalizations, some of which I am uncertain about. So I thought I had best check in with the experts… > > My list so far: > bulgarian \* Вие сте тук > czech Nacházíte se zde > danish \* du er her > dutch \* u bent hier > english \* you are here > estonian Olete siin > finnish \* Olet tässä > french \* vous êtes ici > german Sie sind hier > greek \* βρίσκεστε εδώ > hungarian Ön most itt van > irish \* Tá tú anseo > italian \* tu sei qui > latvian Jūs esat šeit > lithuanian \* Jūs esate čia > maltese inti hawn > polish \* Jesteś tutaj > portuguese \* Você está aqui > romanian Sunteţi aici > slovak Nachádzate sa tu > slovene ste tukaj > spanish \* Usted está aquí > swedish Du är här There seems to be a slight inconsistency with some of the examples. A number of the languages distinguish between a formal and an informal register for “you” and its accompanying verb forms. The Italian example at least, and perhaps also (if I understand Wikipedia correctly!) the Portuguese, are using the informal register; on the other hand, the French and Spanish are using the formal register. Of course this disparity might be appropriate in this context (i.e. some languages as a matter of convention might be more formal in this situation than others), and there’s also the factor of set phrases (such as your Austrian German example). As for capitalisation, my “educated” guess is that all the languages concerned require the initial letter to be capitalised here; sentence rules over-ride those for individual words. Incidentally, you could abbreviate the Spanish example to “Vd. está aquí”… unless I’m going to be told by a native speaker that this is now considered old-fashioned! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/14 "2011-03-07T01:33:21Z")
> [@A.Gwilliam](#): > > Incidentally, you could abbreviate the Spanish example to “Vd. está aquí”… unless I’m going to be told by a native speaker that this is now considered old-fashioned! 🙂 Just don’t put that in bathroom stalls! ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/15 "2011-03-07T01:40:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just don’t put that in bathroom stalls! Huh? ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/16 "2011-03-07T02:01:14Z")
The French is correct, as seen in this nice picture of a map in the Louvre. I found it randomly, so I don’t know who the woman is. [http://lh5.ggpht.com/\_wo96vZUk6U4/SjiZn2ZthBI/AAAAAAAAHbU/XvQ0e3QfSnU/s912/20090612\_1411.JPG](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wo96vZUk6U4/SjiZn2ZthBI/AAAAAAAAHbU/XvQ0e3QfSnU/s912/20090612_1411.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/17 "2011-03-07T07:55:59Z")
Swedish is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/18 "2011-03-07T08:15:39Z")
> [@A.Gwilliam](#): > > Incidentally, you could abbreviate the Spanish example to “Vd. está aquí”… unless I’m going to be told by a native speaker that this is now considered old-fashioned! 🙂 Shrug, the usted itself is kind of old-fashioned, but it’s what you see in maps; I recently had to consult a lawyer and we usteded each other until we were able to meet in person and agree to “drop the formality”. The AQUÍ is often all-capped and in a bigger font, if written inside the map itself; not if written on a legend (what can I say, it’s one of those customary things: someone did it, then other people liked it and copied it). ---
**Author:** ![udlander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/43a26b/32.png) [@udlander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/udlander)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/19 "2011-03-07T08:55:10Z")
Excellent - and so fast! Between us, we have covered over half the languages already. Interesting point about the capitalizations and distinction between formal/informal pronouns and verb usage - it is not something one has to think about really in English. Danish has a formal ‘you’, but it is not something that seems to be used that much, at least in the circles I mix in. I did ‘De’ my 80+ year old neighbour though. Does anyone know if Google translate has a preference towards informal/formal translations? ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702/20 "2011-03-07T09:16:35Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > As best I can tell, “ihr standort” essentially means “your location”, which is only semantically different from “you are here.” > > FWIW, “Sie sind hier” is the formal usage, but what you would probably encounter on street signs or maps or whatnot. If you were using this for friends, you would use the familiar “Du bist hier.” “Sie sind hier” is the rather literal translation, but has a part-connotation of “You are here” in the metaphorical, rather than physical sense (Why are we here?); that’s why “Ihr Standort” (your location) is used often in maps. An alternative for that is “Sie befinden sich hier” - you are currently here, which refers only to physical location. I wouldn’t use “Du bist hier” at all, even if I know the map will be only read by friends (a chancy assumption on the internet), it just sounds unusual. It would be more likely used when your friend arrives at your front door and is indeed here now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-here-in-the-official-european-languages-long-sorry/573702.md?page=2)