How to say “actually” in 41 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 Turkish, where yani is the 57th most used word.
- Afrikaans eintlik actually, really, properly #295
- Arabic يعني in other words, actually, namely, to wit,… #132
- Armenian իսկապես indeed, actually #346
- Basque egiaz truly, really, actually #1,442
- Bosnian zapravo in fact, really, actually #335
- Bulgarian дори even, actually #125
- Chinese 到底 actually; exactly #70
- Croatian zapravo in fact, really, actually #277
- Czech vlastně actually, as a matter of fact #263
- Danish egentlig really, actually #918
- Dutch eigenlijk actually, really, in reality, strictly… #312
- English act Clipping of actually #712
- Esperanto fakte actually, indeed, in fact, factually #378
- Estonian tegelikult actually, really #217
- Finnish oikeasti really, actually, for real #395
- Georgian ნამდვილად actually, authentically, indeed, really, sheer #207
- German wirklich really, actually #125
- Greek σωστά right, truly, actually #153
- Hebrew למעשה in fact, actually #279
- Hindi वाक़ई truly, actually; really #2,053
- Hungarian igazából really, actually #509
- Icelandic reyndar in fact, as a matter of fact, actually #329
- Indonesian sebenarnya actually, in fact #202
- Italian veramente really, indeed, actually, truly #464
- Korean 진짜 really; actually #78
- Latvian īstenībā in reality, in fact, actually, really #1,097
- Macedonian всушност actually, in fact #219
- Malay sebenarnya actually, in fact #209
- Norwegian faktisk #315
- Persian واقعا really; actually #83
- Polish naprawdę really, truly, actually #84
- Portuguese mesmo really; actually; in fact #76
- Russian действительно really, actually, truly, indeed #273
- Serbian zapravo in fact, really, actually #360
- Spanish realmente really, actually, genuinely #220
- Swedish faktiskt actually, for real #328
- Telugu అసలు really, actually #457
- Turkish yani in other words, actually, namely, to wit,… #57
- Ukrainian дійсно really, actually, truly #318
- Urdu دراصل in reality, in fact, actually, truly, in… #1,022
- Vietnamese thật actually, for real #70
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.