How to say “approximately” in 36 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.
- تقريبا/taq.riː.ban/ Arabic
- 大概/tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ kaɪ̯⁵¹/ Chinese
- 약[ja̠k̚] Korean
- लगभग/ləɡ.bʱəɡ/ Hindi
- περίπου/peˈripu/ Greek
- בערך/ˈbeʁeχ/ Hebrew
“approximately” in German: etwa · Chinese: 大概 · Korean: 약 · Arabic: تقريبا · Hindi: लगभग · Greek: περίπου
It is commonest in Tagalog, where mga is the 11th most used word.
Approximately in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian afërsisht/afəɾsiʃt/ about, approximately #2,347
- Arabic تقريبا/taq.riː.ban/ #564
- Bosnian oko/ôko/ around, about, roughly, approximately #207
- Chinese 大概/tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ kaɪ̯⁵¹/ approximately; roughly; about #201
- Croatian oko/ôko/ around, about, roughly, approximately #211
- Danish cirka/ˈsiɐ̯ɡa/ circa, approximately #1,652
- Dutch ongeveer/ˌɔŋ.ɣəˈveːr/ about, roughly, approximately #739
- English block/blɑk/ A substantial, often approximately cuboid,… #1,790
- Esperanto proksimume/proksiˈmume/ #1,741
- Estonian umbes/ˈumb̥es/ about, approximately #439
- Georgian დაახლოებით[d̥ääχɫo̞e̞bitʰ] approximately, thereabout, thereabouts #1,036
- German etwa/ˈɛtva/ #477
- Greek περίπου/peˈripu/ approximately, about #556
- Hebrew בערך/ˈbeʁeχ/ #466
- Hindi लगभग/ləɡ.bʱəɡ/ #543
- Hungarian körülbelül[ˈkørylbɛlyl] about, roughly, approximately #2,136
- Indonesian barang/ˈbaraŋ/ #541
- Korean 약[ja̠k̚] approximately; about #389
- Latvian aptuveni/ˈaptuʋæni/ approximately, roughly; adverbial form of… #2,010
- Lithuanian maždaug[mɐʒˈdɐuɡ] #608
- Malayalam ഏകദേശം/eːɡɐd̪eːʃɐm/ #296
- Norwegian omtrent/ɔmˈtrɛnt/ approximately, about #1,139
- Persian تقریبا[t̪ʰæʁ.ɹiː.bæn] approximately, roughly, about #1,158
- Polish kiedyś/ˈkjɛ.dɘɕ/ at one time, formerly, once, approximately… #284
- Romanian cam/ˈkam/ approximately, a little #262
- Russian примерно[prʲɪˈmʲernə] about, approximately #1,367
- Serbian oko/ôko/ around, about, roughly, approximately #203
- Slovak as/ˈas/ #1,733
- Spanish unos/ˈunos/ about, approximately #267
- Swedish ungefär/ɵnjeˈfɛːr/ about, approximately #1,042
- Tagalog mga/maˈŋa/ approximately; around; about #11
- Tamil சுமார்/tʃʊmɑːɾ/ about, approximately, on average #741
- Telugu సుమారు/ˈsumaːru/ about, approximately, nearly #1,226
- Ukrainian приблизно[preˈbɫɪznɔ] approximately, roughly, about #1,582
- Urdu تقریبا/t̪əq.ɾiː.bən/ around, about, approximately, close to,… #402
- Vietnamese độ[ʔɗo˧˨ʔ] about; approximately #478
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.