How to say “break” 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.
- roto/ˈroto/ Spanish
- तोड़/t̪oːɽ/ Hindi
- הפסקה/hafsaˈka/ Hebrew
- ընդմիջում/əndmiˈt͡ʃʰum/ Armenian
- شکستن[ʃe.kʰʲæs.t̪ʰǽn] Persian
“break” in Spanish: roto · French: cassé · German: brechen · Italian: rotto · Hindi: तोड़
It is commonest in Albanian, where din is the 343rd most used word.
Break in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans breek/brɪə̯k/ to break #414
- Albanian din/din/ to break #343
- Arabic قطع/qa.tˤa.ʕa/ to cut, to break #560
- Armenian ընդմիջում/əndmiˈt͡ʃʰum/ #696
- Basque hautsi/au̯t͡s̺i/ to break #478
- Bosnian pucaj/ˈputsɑj/ to crack, break, burst, split #1,375
- Bulgarian прекъсвам[prɛˈkɤsvɐm] to interrupt, to break off, to cut off #2,411
- Catalan trencar[tɾəŋˈka] to break #1,021
- Chinese 休息/ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵ ɕi²/ to rest; to take a break #198
- Croatian pucati/pûtsati/ to crack, break, burst, split #1,334
- Danish brød/brøːˀð/ to break #944
- Dutch gebroken/ɣəˈbroːkən/ to break #989
- English weekend/ˈwiˌkɛnd/ The break in the working week, usually two… #1,346
- Esperanto rompis/ˈrompis/ to break #1,089
- French cassé/ka.se/ to break #1,435
- Galician romper[romˈpeɾ] to break #1,785
- German brechen/ˈbʁɛçən/ to break #1,577
- Greek διάλειμμα/ðiˈalima/ pause, break, recess; elevenses #1,602
- Hebrew הפסקה/hafsaˈka/ A break, an intermission, an interval #1,064
- Hindi तोड़/t̪oːɽ/ break, fissure #554
- Icelandic hlé[ˈl̥jɛː] break, rest #1,287
- Indonesian istirahat[ɪst̪iˈrahat̪̚] to take a break, to rest, to repose #762
- Italian rotto/ˈrot.to/ to break #1,190
- Korean 휴식[çuɕʰik̚] rest; relaxation; break #2,161
- Macedonian скрши[ˈskr̩ʃi] to break, fracture #827
- Malay pecah/pəˈt͡ʃah/ to break #1,216
- Norwegian stå/ˈstoː/ stop up, stop short, break down #422
- Persian شکستن[ʃe.kʰʲæs.t̪ʰǽn] to break #2,008
- Polish przerwę/ˈpʂɛ.rvɛ/ break, interruption, pause #2,467
- Romanian pauză/ˈpa.uzə/ pause, break, stop #1,205
- Russian перерыв[pʲɪrʲɪˈrɨf] interruption, stop, break, intermission #2,334
- Serbian pucaj/ˈputsɑj/ to crack, break, burst, split #1,477
- Slovak rozbiť/rɔzbic/ to break, to shatter, to smash #1,949
- Slovenian zlomiti/zlɔmìːti/ to break #1,641
- Spanish roto/ˈroto/ to break #1,596
- Swedish förstöra/fœʂʈœːra/ to break, to demolish; to make something… #999
- Tagalog masira/maˈsiɾaʔ/ to break down; to get broken; to get damaged #638
- Tamil அறுக்க/ɐrʊkːɐ/ to be severed, to break #2,197
- Turkish mola/ˈmo.ɫa/ rest, break, pause #2,171
- Urdu خلل/xə.ləl/ break, breach #1,069
- Vietnamese rời[zəːj˨˩] to break off; to break loose; to leave #524
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), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), 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.