How to say “able” in 47 languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
It is commonest in Malay, where boleh is the 19th most used word.
- Albanian mund can, to be able to; to have the opportunity,… #22
- Arabic استطاع to be able to, to be capable of, can #2,202
- Armenian կարող capable, competent, able #29
- Bengali পারে can; to be able #67
- Bosnian mogu can, to be able to #41
- Bulgarian мога to know how to do something, can, be able to #56
- Catalan puc to be able; can #71
- Chinese 能夠 can; to be able to; to be capable of #1,523
- Croatian mogu can, to be able to #46
- Czech mohl can, be able to #135
- Danish kan to be able, can #24
- Dutch kan can, to be able to #41
- English will To be able to, to have the capacity to #64
- Esperanto povas to be able to; can #31
- Estonian võib to be able, can, to have the ability to do… #132
- Finnish voinut can, to be able to, to be capable #280
- French peux can, to be able to #81
- Galician capaz able, capable #1,381
- Georgian შემიძლია to be able to #69
- German kann to be able, to have the possibility of, can #51
- Greek μπορώ I can, be able #64
- Hebrew יכול can, to be able to #30
- Hindi सकते to be able #43
- Hungarian látszik to be visible, to be able to be seen #738
- Icelandic get can, to be able #61
- Indonesian publik able to be seen or known by everyone; open to… #1,672
- Italian posso can, could; to be able to #87
- Latvian var can; to be able to #88
- Lithuanian gali to be able to; can, may #56
- Macedonian може to be able #44
- Malay boleh To be able to; can #19
- Malayalam പറ്റുക to be able, happen #1,534
- Norwegian dyktig able, capable, competent, proficient, skilled #1,959
- Persian قابل qualified; able; competent #421
- Polish mogę to be able; can; may, might expressing lack… #52
- Portuguese pode to be able to; can #75
- Romanian pot to be able to; can, could, may #53
- Russian могу can, be able to #62
- Serbian mogu can, to be able to #41
- Slovak schopný able, capable #615
- Slovenian moči can, to be able #342
- Spanish puedo to be able to, can #65
- Swedish kan "to can", to be able to #25
- Tagalog kaya ably; in an able manner #46
- Tamil கில் to be able or possible #1,472
- Ukrainian здатний able, capable #2,359
- Vietnamese nổi be able to; to be capable of; to be in a… #449
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.