How to say “allow” in 37 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.
- permite/peɾˈmite/ Spanish
- позволить[pɐzˈvolʲɪtʲ] Russian
- سمح/samaħa/ Arabic
- הרשה/hiʁˈʃa/ Hebrew
- அனுமதிக்க/ɐnʊmɐd̪ɪkːɐ/ Tamil
- അനുവദിക്കുക/ɐnuʋɐd̪ikkjuɡɐ/ Malayalam
“allow” in Spanish: permite · German: lassen · Italian: permesso · Russian: позволить · Arabic: سمح
It is commonest in German, where lassen is the 161st most used word.
Allow in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic سمح/samaħa/ to allow, to permit someone something / أَن… #1,875
- Armenian թույլատրել/tʰujlɑtˈɾel/ to permit, authorize, allow #1,084
- Basque laga/laɡa/ to let, to allow #1,836
- Bosnian dozvoliti/dozʋǒliti/ to allow, permit, let #1,044
- Bulgarian позволя[pozvoˈlʲa̟] to let, to allow, to permit #860
- Catalan permetre[pərˈmɛ.tɾə] to allow; to permit #1,046
- Croatian dopustiti/dopǔstiti/ to allow, permit, let #751
- Czech dovolit[ˈdovolɪt] to allow, to permit #1,063
- Danish tillader/ˈteˌlaðˀɐ/ to allow, permit #2,264
- English let/lɛt/ To allow to, not to prevent #75
- Esperanto permesu/perˈmesu/ to let, permit, allow #415
- Estonian lase/ˈlɑse/ to let, to allow, to permit #169
- Finnish suokaa/ˈsuokaː/ to give, allow, permit, grant, let, afford #1,772
- French permis/pɛʁ.mi/ to permit, to allow #1,401
- Galician permitir/peɾmiˈtiɾ/ to permit, to allow #1,683
- German lassen[ˈlasn̩] to allow; to permit; to let #161
- Greek αφήσω/aˈfiso/ to leave, allow, let, let go, let go of,… #487
- Hebrew הרשה/hiʁˈʃa/ to allow #1,779
- Hungarian hagyd[ˈhɒɟd] to let, to allow #323
- Icelandic leyfa[ˈleiːva] to allow, to permit, to give permission for #612
- Indonesian izinkan/iˈzinkan/ to allow #1,907
- Italian permesso/perˈmes.so/ to allow, to let, to permit, to authorize, to… #781
- Latvian ļauj/ˈʎauj/ to allow #283
- Lithuanian leisti/ˈlɛɪstɪ/ let, allow, permit, authorize #441
- Macedonian дозволува[dɔˈzvɔɫuva] to allow, permit #2,275
- Malay benarkan/bəˈna(r)kan/ to allow; to permit; to authorise #698
- Malayalam അനുവദിക്കുക/ɐnuʋɐd̪ikkjuɡɐ/ to allow #2,124
- Persian گذاشتم/ɡozɒːʃtæm/ to let, to permit, to allow #599
- Polish pozwól/ˈpɔ.zvul/ to allow #467
- Portuguese permitir/peʁ.miˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ to permit, to allow, to let #2,326
- Romanian permite/perˈmi.te/ to permit, allow #918
- Russian позволить[pɐzˈvolʲɪtʲ] to allow, to permit #971
- Serbian dozvoliti/dozʋǒliti/ to allow, permit, let #972
- Spanish permite/peɾˈmite/ to allow, permit #1,594
- Swedish tillåter/ˈtɪloːtɛr/ to allow, to permit #2,261
- Tamil அனுமதிக்க/ɐnʊmɐd̪ɪkːɐ/ to allow, permit #298
- Ukrainian дозволити[dɔzˈwɔɫete] to allow, to permit, to let #1,390
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.