Crochet abbreviations in French, Spanish, German, Japanese and more
A side-by-side table of single crochet, increase, decrease, chain and magic ring in 12 languages, plus how chart symbols X, V and A work.
Some of the best amigurumi patterns are written in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese or Korean, and the stitch counts and round structure are the same everywhere. Once you know a handful of words in a language, you can follow most toy patterns in it — even if you can't read the introduction.
The five words you need
An amigurumi pattern mostly uses five things: single crochet, increase, decrease, chain and slip stitch, plus a magic ring to start. Here they are in the languages StitchCheck reads.
| Language | single crochet | increase | decrease | chain | slip stitch | magic ring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English (US) | sc | inc | dec | ch | sl st | MR |
| English (UK) | dc | inc | dec | ch | ss | MR |
| French | ms | aug | dim | ml | mc | CM |
| Spanish | pb | aum | dism | cad | pd | am |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | pb | aum | dim | corr | pbx | AM |
| Italian | mb | aum | dim | cat | mbss | AM |
| German | fM | zun | abn | Lm | Km | FR |
| Dutch | v | meerd | mind | l | hv | MR |
| Russian | сбн | пр | уб | вп | сс | КА |
| Ukrainian | сбн | пр | уб | вп | сз | КА |
| Japanese | 細編み | 増し目 | 減らし目 | 鎖 | 引き抜き | 輪の作り目 |
| Chart symbols (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese) | X | V | A | CH | SL | MR |
A few of the full names are worth knowing because they turn up in instructions: French maille serrée (sc) and maille en l'air (chain); Spanish punto bajo (sc) and anillo mágico (magic ring); German feste Masche (sc) and Fadenring (magic ring); Italian maglia bassa (sc); Dutch vaste (sc) and losse (chain).
Taller stitches
| Language | half double (US hdc) | double (US dc) |
|---|---|---|
| French | db (demi-bride) | br (bride) |
| Spanish | mpa (medio punto alto) | pa (punto alto) |
| Portuguese | mpa (meio ponto alto) | pa (ponto alto) |
| Italian | mma (mezza maglia alta) | ma (maglia alta) |
| German | hStb (halbes Stäbchen) | Stb (Stäbchen) |
| Dutch | hstk (half stokje) | stk (stokje) |
| Russian | пссн | ссн |
Notice that most European languages name stitches the same way US English does: the French bride and Spanish punto alto are both US double crochet. UK English is the odd one out.
Round labels
How a language writes "round 5" is the other thing that trips people up:
- French: Rg 5 or Tour 5 (rang, tour)
- Spanish: V5 or Vuelta 5
- Portuguese: 5ª carr (carreira) or Volta 5
- Italian: Giro 5
- German: 5. Rd (Runde)
- Dutch: Toer 5
- Russian and Ukrainian: 5 ряд
- Japanese: 5段目
Repeats are usually written the same way as in English — brackets and a multiplier — but the multiplier can sit before or after (6x in Dutch and Portuguese, x6 elsewhere), and Russian patterns often use the × sign.
Chart symbols: X, V and A
Many Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese patterns — and a lot of patterns shared on social media — use letters taken from crochet chart symbols instead of words. They are easy once you see the logic:
- X looks like the chart symbol for single crochet.
- V looks like two stitches coming out of one: an increase.
- A looks like two stitches joining into one: a decrease.
So R4: (2X, V) *6 (24) is exactly R4: (2 sc, inc) x6 (24). Taller stitches use other letters (T for half double, F for double), and the asterisk means "times".
R1: 6X in MR (6) R2: 6V (12) R3: (X, V) *6 (18) R4: (2X, V) *6 (24) R5-8: 24X (24) R9: (2X, A) *6 (18) R10: (X, A) *6 (12) R11: 6A (6)
Reading a pattern in another language with StitchCheck
Paste the pattern into StitchCheck and choose its language under the pattern language setting, or leave it on auto-detect. StitchCheck reads the round labels, stitch words, repeats and counts in that language, checks each round, and builds the shape. The notation cheat sheet shows the abbreviations for whichever language you pick, so you can keep it open while you crochet.