my %HoA = ( '1' => [ 'January', 'Januare' ], '2' => [ 'February', 'Februare' ], '4' => [ 'April' , 'Avril' ], ); for (1 .. 4) { print "English: $HoA{$_}[0], French: $HoA{$_}[1]", $/; } # watch out! $HoA{3} has been auto-vivified as an ARRAY-ref!!