Translate English to Yiddish
Press play on any track
Type or paste English text above and get the Yiddish translation in Hebrew letters, written right to left. Yiddish is the historic language of Ashkenazi Jews, built on a German base with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Slavic layers, and it remains the daily language of Hasidic communities in Brooklyn, Rockland County, London, and Jerusalem. This translator serves family messages, community notices, and study alike.
Common English to Yiddish translations
| English | Yiddish | Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | שלום עליכם | SHO-lem a-LEY-khem | ||
| Thank you | א דאנק | ah DANK | ||
| Yes | יא | yaw | ||
| No | ניין | neyn | ||
| Goodbye | זיי געזונט | zay ge-ZUNT | ||
| Congratulations | מזל טוב | MA-zel tov | ||
| Good morning | גוט מאָרגן | gut MOR-gn | ||
| Good night | אַ גוטע נאַכט | a GU-te nakht | ||
| Please | זײַט אַזוי גוט | zayt a-ZOY gut | ||
| How are you? | וואָס מאַכסטו? | vos MAKH-stu | ||
| Excuse me | אַנטשולדיקט | ant-SHUL-dikt | ||
| Welcome | ברוך־הבא | BO-rekh ha-BO | ||
| I don’t understand | איך פֿאַרשטיי נישט | ikh far-SHTEY nisht | ||
| Friend | חבֿר | KHA-ver |
Tips for English to Yiddish translation
Yiddish runs right to left in Hebrew letters, and the output box handles the direction automatically. Vowels are written as full letters rather than dots, which makes Yiddish easier to sound out than Hebrew once the alphabet is familiar.
Spelling varies by community. The YIVO academic standard and the everyday spelling used in Hasidic publishing differ on many words; the translation follows one convention, so a familiar word can look slightly different from how your family writes it while sounding identical.
English already carries Yiddish inside it: chutzpah, schlep, klutz, and glitch all crossed over. Watch for them coming back the other way, since a loanword often has a more native Yiddish alternative in formal writing.
About the Yiddish language
Yiddish once had over ten million speakers across Eastern Europe. Today it lives in two worlds: growing Hasidic communities where children learn it as a first language, and universities and cultural institutions keeping the literary tradition of Sholem Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer in circulation. The National Yiddish Book Center and campus programs have pulled a new generation of learners into the language.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Free, no account, no word-per-day cap for normal use.
Yes, every result has audio playback where a voice is available, and the speaker buttons in the table above work the same way.
No. Text is processed in real time and discarded; nothing is logged to a profile.
Translate up to 100 words per pass; split longer texts into paragraphs.
No. They share an alphabet and Yiddish borrows Hebrew vocabulary, but Yiddish is a Germanic language. A Hebrew speaker cannot read Yiddish for meaning without studying it.
A single consistent convention. If your community spells a word differently, the pronunciation is the same; adjust the spelling for your audience.
Yiddish is written in the Hebrew alphabet, from right to left. Unlike Hebrew, standard Yiddish spelling writes vowels with full letters such as alef, ayin, vov, and yud, so words can be read without vowel points.
The largest Yiddish-speaking communities are Hasidic communities in the United States and Israel, with smaller communities in Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and elsewhere. Universities in several countries also teach it.
Yes. Yiddish grew from medieval German dialects, so much of its core vocabulary sounds close to German. It also carries a large layer of Hebrew and Aramaic words plus Slavic vocabulary, and it uses the Hebrew script.
The translator works best with Hebrew-script input. Text typed in Latin transliteration is often detected as German or English instead, so paste Yiddish in its own alphabet when you can.
Explore related pairs below, or use the box above to start translating.
