What context can I use each word in?
Learn when and how to use these words with these examples!
quadrilingual
Example
My friend is quadrilingual and can speak English, French, Spanish, and Mandarin fluently. [quadrilingual: adjective]
Example
The brochure was printed in quadrilingual format to cater to tourists from different countries. [quadrilingual: adjective]
Example
The conference was attended by quadrilingual delegates who could speak English, French, German, and Italian. [quadrilingual: noun]
multilingual
Example
She grew up in a multilingual household and can speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently. [multilingual: adjective]
Example
The website was translated into multilingual versions to cater to users from different countries. [multilingual: adjective]
Example
Switzerland is a multilingual country where people speak German, French, Italian, and Romansh. [multilingual: adjective]
Good things to know
Which word is more common?
Multilingual is more commonly used than quadrilingual in everyday language, as it covers a wider range of contexts and can refer to any number of languages beyond two.
What’s the difference in the tone of formality between quadrilingual and multilingual?
Both quadrilingual and multilingual are formal words that are typically used in academic or professional settings to describe language proficiency or language diversity.