Meaning & use
trilingual
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Able to speak three languages well.
Grammar: Describes a person or group; not used with 'more' or 'most'.
Patterns
- be trilingual
- a trilingual person
She is trilingual in English, Spanish, and French.
Growing up in a trilingual household gave him an advantage.
The trilingual guide led tours in three languages.
adjectivebefore a noun
Involving or written in three languages.
Grammar: Used before a noun to describe things like signs, books, or events.
Patterns
- trilingual sign
- trilingual education
The airport has trilingual signs in English, Arabic, and Chinese.
They published a trilingual edition of the poems.
The conference provided trilingual interpretation.
Common combinations
- trilingual family
- The trilingual family speaks English, German, and Italian at home.
- trilingual education
- Trilingual education is common in some European regions.
- trilingual sign
- The trilingual sign helped tourists from three countries.
- grow up trilingual
- Children who grow up trilingual often switch languages easily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bilingual
- Bilingual means two languages, not three.
- multilingual
- Multilingual means several languages, often more than three, and is less specific.
Opposites
Word family
- trilingualism noun
- The state of being trilingual.
- bilingual adjective
- Able to speak two languages.
- multilingual adjective
- Able to speak several languages.
Commonly confused: trilingual or trilingualism?
trilingual vs trilingualism
Trilingual is an adjective; trilingualism is the noun for the ability.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
Trilingual means three languages, so option 0 is correct. Option 1 mentions only two languages, option 2 uses 'bilingual' for three, and option 3 incorrectly uses 'more than' with a non-comparable adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trilingual”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.