How to say “actually” in 41 different 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.
- يعني/jaʕ.niː/ Arabic
- 到底/tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ti²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ Chinese
- ნამდვილად[nämdʷiɫätʰ] Georgian
“actually” in Chinese: 到底 · Arabic: يعني · Turkish: yani
It is commonest in Turkish, where yani is the 57th most used word.
Actually in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans eintlik/ˈɛɪntlək/ actually, really, properly #295
- Arabic يعني/jaʕ.niː/ in other words, actually, namely, to wit,… #132
- Armenian իսկապես/iskɑˈpes/ indeed, actually #346
- Basque egiaz/eɡias̻/ truly, really, actually #1,442
- Bosnian zapravo/zâpraʋo/ in fact, really, actually #335
- Bulgarian дори[doˈri] even, actually #125
- Chinese 到底/tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ti²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ actually; exactly #70
- Croatian zapravo/zâpraʋo/ in fact, really, actually #277
- Czech vlastně[ˈvlastɲɛ] actually, as a matter of fact #263
- Danish egentlig/eːˀɣəntli/ really, actually #918
- Dutch eigenlijk/ˈɛi̯ɣə(n)lək/ actually, really, in reality, strictly… #312
- English act/ækt/ Clipping of actually #712
- Esperanto fakte/ˈfakte/ actually, indeed, in fact, factually #378
- Estonian tegelikult/ˈteɡ̊elikult/ actually, really #217
- Finnish oikeasti/ˈoi̯keɑstiˣ/ really, actually, for real #395
- Georgian ნამდვილად[nämdʷiɫätʰ] actually, authentically, indeed, really, sheer #207
- German wirklich/ˈvɪʁklɪç/ really, actually #125
- Greek σωστά/sosˈta/ right, truly, actually #153
- Hebrew למעשה/lmaʔaˈse/ in fact, actually #279
- Hindi वाक़ई/ʋɑː.qə.iː/ truly, actually; really #2,053
- Hungarian igazából[ˈiɡɒzaːboːl] really, actually #509
- Icelandic reyndar[ˈreintar] in fact, as a matter of fact, actually #329
- Indonesian sebenarnya/səbəˈnarɲa/ actually, in fact #202
- Italian veramente/ve.raˈmen.te/ really, indeed, actually, truly #464
- Korean 진짜[t͡ɕiɲt͡ɕ͈a̠] really; actually #78
- Latvian īstenībā/ˈiːsteniːbaː/ in reality, in fact, actually, really #1,097
- Macedonian всушност[ˈfsuʃnɔst] actually, in fact #219
- Malay sebenarnya/səbəˈna(r)ɲə/ actually, in fact #209
- Norwegian faktisk/ˈfɑktɪsk/ #315
- Persian واقعا[vɒː.ʁe.ʔǽn] really; actually #83
- Polish naprawdę/naˈprav.dɛ/ really, truly, actually #84
- Portuguese mesmo/ˈmez.mu/ really; actually; in fact #76
- Russian действительно/dʲɪ(j)stˈvʲitʲɪlʲnə/ really, actually, truly, indeed #273
- Serbian zapravo/zâpraʋo/ in fact, really, actually #360
- Spanish realmente/reˌalˈmente/ really, actually, genuinely #220
- Swedish faktiskt/ˈfaktɪskt/ actually, for real #328
- Telugu అసలు/asalu/ really, actually #457
- Turkish yani[jɑːni] in other words, actually, namely, to wit,… #57
- Ukrainian дійсно[ˈdʲii̯snɔ] really, actually, truly #318
- Urdu دراصل/d̪ə.ɾə.səl/ in reality, in fact, actually, truly, in… #1,022
- Vietnamese thật[tʰət̚˧˨ʔ] actually, for real #70
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.