D&D 5e Languages: Complete 2024/5.5e Guide

Languages are easy to overlook when you're building a Dungeons & Dragons character. You pick a few during character creation, write them down somewhere on the character sheet, and sometimes don't think about them again until your party finds a warning carved into the wall of an ancient tomb.

But languages can matter a lot more than that, and the revised 2024 D&D rules made some important changes to how characters learn them.

Under the 2024 rules, sometimes called D&D 5.5e, every player character starts knowing Common plus two Standard Languages of their choice. Your class and other features can give you additional languages, including access to some of the game's Rare Languages.

The new rules also introduce Common Sign Language as a Standard Language, move away from tying your starting languages directly to your species, and reorganize the old Standard and Exotic language categories into Standard Languages and Rare Languages.

Here's how languages work in the revised version of D&D 5e.

How Many Languages Do You Know in D&D 5.5e?

A typical character begins the game knowing at least three languages: Common plus two Standard Languages.

When creating your character, you can choose those two additional languages from the Standard Languages table. You can also roll for them if you'd rather leave your character's languages to chance.

Your class or another character feature may then give you additional languages on top of those starting choices.

What Is the Complete D&D 5.5e Standard Language List?

The 2024 rules divide languages into Standard and Rare categories. Standard Languages represent languages that are widespread enough throughout D&D worlds to be available as normal character-creation choices.

Common is automatic, so it doesn't use one of your two choices. You choose your additional two languages from the rest of the Standard Languages list.

That means a starting character might know Common, Elvish, and Draconic, while another might know Common, Goblin, and Common Sign Language.

What Are the Rare Languages in D&D 5.5e?

Rare Languages are languages that are secret, associated with other planes, or otherwise less commonly encountered throughout the Material Plane.

You don't normally choose a Rare Language as one of your two starting languages. You need a class feature or another rule that gives you access to one.

That doesn't mean Rare Languages are off-limits to player characters. Several class features can expand your language choices.

How Do You Learn Rare Languages in D&D 5.5e?

The easiest answer is: you need a feature that gives you one.

Some classes explicitly provide Rare Languages or allow you to choose additional languages from the game's language tables.

For example:

• Druids learn Druidic at level 1 as part of their Druidic class feature.
• Rogues learn Thieves' Cant at level 1 and also choose one additional language from the language tables.
• Rangers gain two additional languages of their choice at level 2 through Deft Explorer.

Other character options can also grant languages, so your final total may be higher than the three languages provided during normal character creation.

This is also why you shouldn't assume every character can simply choose Infernal, Sylvan, or Undercommon because it makes sense for their backstory. If you're using the 2024 rules as written, those languages are in the Rare category and require an appropriate feature or other source of access.

What Is Common Sign Language in D&D 5e?

Common Sign Language is a Standard Language in the 2024 rules.

That means any player character can select it as one of their two normal Standard Languages during character creation.

This is a notable addition to the revised Player's Handbook and it is treated as a genuine language rather than a special ability. Characters who know it can use it to communicate with other creatures that know the language.

The revised spell rules recognize signed communication as well. For example, Comprehend Languages can allow you to understand a language that you hear or see being signed, and Tongues similarly accounts for both spoken and signed languages.

Can Common Sign Language Replace Verbal Spell Components?

No, not under the rules as written. Knowing Common Sign Language gives your character another method of communication, but it does not change the requirements for casting a spell.

A spell with a Verbal component requires the caster to produce the necessary sounds with their voice. The 2024 spellcasting rules specifically describe Verbal components as words spoken in a normal speaking voice with the required sounds, pitch, and resonance.

Signing something therefore isn't a substitute for a Verbal component. A DM could certainly create a house rule or character option that works differently, but that would be a modification to the normal spellcasting rules rather than something Common Sign Language automatically allows.

What Does Knowing a Language Let You Do in D&D?

If your character knows a language, the 2024 rules allow them to communicate in it, read it, and write it.

You don't normally need to make an Intelligence check every time your character reads Elvish or speaks Goblin. Knowing the language is what gives you that ability.

Likewise, there isn't a general rule that lets a character who doesn't know a language simply roll high enough to understand it.

A GM might allow a character to recognize a symbol, identify what language is being spoken, infer meaning from context, or puzzle out part of an inscription. That's a perfectly reasonable use of ability checks when the situation calls for it, but it isn't the same as actually knowing the language.

Do Your Species and Background Determine Your Languages in D&D 2024?

Not in the same way they did under the 2014 rules.

This is one of the larger changes to character languages in the revised game.

Under the older 2014 rules, languages were commonly attached directly to your character's race, while backgrounds could provide additional choices.

In the 2024 character creation rules, language selection is its own step. Every character receives Common and chooses two Standard Languages regardless of species.

So playing an Elf doesn't automatically force Elvish into one of your starting language slots, and playing an Orc doesn't automatically mean your character speaks Orc.

You can certainly choose those languages when they make sense for your character, but the choice belongs to you.

What Changed About Languages From D&D 2014 to 2024?

If you're moving from the original 5e rules into the 2024 rules, there are several differences worth knowing.

The end result is a more flexible character creation system. Your species can still influence which languages make sense for your story, but it no longer dictates those choices for you.

How Does Primordial Work in D&D 5.5e?

Primordial is a Rare Language associated with Elementals.

It also includes four familiar elemental dialects:

• Aquan
• Auran
• Ignan
• Terran

Those dialects correspond broadly to Water, Air, Fire, and Earth.

Importantly, creatures that know different Primordial dialects can still communicate with one another. An Ignan speaker and an Aquan speaker aren't completely cut off from each other simply because they're using different forms of Primordial.

What Language Should You Choose for Your D&D Character?

There isn't one universally "best" D&D language.

The usefulness of a language depends heavily on the campaign you're playing.

If you know your campaign will involve dragons, Draconic may be an obvious choice. A game involving giants could make Giant particularly valuable, while Goblin might come up frequently in a campaign full of goblinoid settlements and enemies.

But usefulness isn't the only reason to choose a language.

Languages are also an easy way to tell us something about your character. Ask yourself:

• Where did your character grow up?
• Who taught them?
• Who did they regularly trade or travel with?
• Did they study an ancient culture?
• Did they spend time in a multilingual city?
• Would Common Sign Language make sense for their family, community, or profession?

You can also coordinate with the rest of the party. If three people already know Elvish, choosing something different might give the group more options once the adventure begins.

Does Comprehend Languages Let You Speak Every Language?

No. Comprehend Languages lets you understand languages, but it doesn't teach you how to speak them.

In the 2024 rules, the spell lasts for 1 hour and allows the caster to understand the literal meaning of languages they hear or see being signed.

It can also help with writing, but there's an additional requirement: you need to touch the surface containing the text, and reading a full page takes about a minute.

The spell also doesn't automatically solve every linguistic puzzle. It doesn't decode secret messages or symbols simply because they appear on a wall or piece of parchment.

That distinction can matter in adventures. Understanding the literal words of a coded letter isn't necessarily the same thing as understanding what the code means.

How Does Tongues Work With Languages in D&D 5.5e?

Tongues goes considerably further than Comprehend Languages when creatures need to have an actual conversation.

The 3rd-level spell allows its target to understand spoken or signed languages that it perceives. When the target speaks or signs, creatures that know at least one language can understand the target as long as they can perceive the communication.

That makes Tongues particularly useful when the problem isn't just understanding an NPC but actually communicating back and forth.

It doesn't, however, turn the target into a universal translator for written text. That's a different problem and one where Comprehend Languages may be more useful.

Does Speak With Animals Mean Animals Have a Language?

No. Speak with Animals is a magical communication effect, not a language proficiency.

The spell allows you to comprehend and verbally communicate with Beasts for its duration. You don't add "Animal" to your character sheet as a language afterward.

This distinction is useful whenever magic allows communication with something that doesn't normally share a language with you. The spell tells you what communication is possible while the magic is active.

How Should DMs Use Languages in a D&D Campaign?

Languages are most interesting when knowing one creates an opportunity rather than simply blocking progress.

If the entire adventure stops because nobody happened to choose Dwarvish six months ago, the language system isn't doing much except creating frustration.

Instead, knowing a language can give characters additional information, shortcuts, or new approaches.

For example:

• A character who knows Goblin overhears enemies arguing before a fight.
• A Draconic inscription reveals the safer of two routes through a ruin.
• An NPC becomes more cooperative when someone addresses them in their native language.
• Common Sign Language lets two characters communicate when speaking would reveal their position.
• A character who knows Giant recognizes that a seemingly decorative carving is actually a warning.
• A Rare Language reveals additional context about a planar creature or ancient artifact.

You can still provide another way forward for characters who don't know the language. They might need magic, an NPC translator, research, or a different route entirely. The language proficiency simply rewards the character who happened to have the right knowledge.

That's also a useful way to think about languages when writing or choosing an adventure. Inscriptions, strange communities, forgotten messages, and creatures from elsewhere in the multiverse give those character-sheet choices a chance to become actual moments at the table. If you're looking for more adventures to drop into your game, our newly released 80s Adventures and other RPG books and adventure modules give you plenty of new places to put those skills to use.

Can You Understand a Language You Don't Know With an Ability Check?

There isn't a general rule that says a successful ability check lets you understand an unknown language.

If your character doesn't know Infernal, rolling a high Intelligence check doesn't suddenly give them fluency in Infernal.

That doesn't mean a check can never help.

The DM could decide your character recognizes the language, understands a familiar symbol, identifies a repeated name, or works out part of a message from context. Those are situational rulings.

But if actual comprehension matters, you'll normally need someone who knows the language or a magical effect such as Comprehend Languages.

Do All D&D Characters Know Common?

Yes. Under the 2024 character creation rules, every player character knows Common.

Common does not count against the two Standard Languages you choose during character creation.

So your base language selection is:

• Common
• Standard Language #1
• Standard Language #2

Then add any additional languages granted by your class or other character features.

Can You Choose Common Sign Language at Character Creation?

Yes.

Common Sign Language is on the Standard Languages table, so it is a valid choice for either of your two starting Standard Languages.

You don't need a special feat, class, or species to choose it.

Can You Choose Abyssal, Infernal, or Sylvan as a Starting Language?

Not as one of your normal two Standard Language choices.

Abyssal, Infernal, and Sylvan are all Rare Languages in the 2024 rules.

You need a character feature or another rule that allows access to a Rare Language or lets you choose from the broader language tables.

What Is the Most Useful Language in D&D 5e?

There isn't one answer that works for every campaign... 

Common is automatically useful because every player character knows it. Beyond that, the value of Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Elvish, Common Sign Language, or another language depends entirely on the places you're visiting and the creatures you're meeting.

If you're worried about making the "wrong" choice, ask your GM what kinds of cultures or regions your character would reasonably know about before the campaign begins. You don't need spoilers. A little information about the setting is usually enough to make a language choice that fits both your character and the game.

What Are the D&D 5.5e Language Rules?

The 2024 language rules are fairly simple once you separate Standard Languages from Rare Languages.

Every player character begins knowing Common plus two Standard Languages. Knowing a language allows you to communicate in it and deal with its written form. Class features and other rules can grant additional languages, including Rare Languages such as Druidic, Thieves' Cant, Infernal, or Sylvan.

Common Sign Language is now a normal Standard Language choice, while spells such as Comprehend Languages and Tongues have been written to account for signed as well as spoken communication.

Most importantly, languages don't need to be forgotten lines near the bottom of a character sheet.

Used well, they can reveal information, create unexpected connections with NPCs, unlock pieces of the world, and occasionally let one player turn to the rest of the party and say:

"Actually, I know what that says."