How to say “build” in 31 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.
- construir/konsˈtɾwiɾ/ Spanish
- بنى/ba.naː/ Arabic
- 建造/t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡sɑʊ̯⁵¹/ Chinese
- בנה/baˈna/ Hebrew
- կառուցել/kɑruˈt͡sʰel/ Armenian
- నిర్మించారు/ˈnirminˌcaːru/ Telugu
“build” in Spanish: construir · French: construire · German: bauen · Italian: costruire · Portuguese: construir · Chinese: 建造 · Arabic: بنى
It is commonest in English, where make is the 113th most used word.
Build in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans gebou/χəˈbœu̯/ to build #436
- Albanian ndërtuar/ndəɾtuaɾ/ to build #924
- Arabic بنى/ba.naː/ to build, to construct, to raise #1,707
- Armenian կառուցել/kɑruˈt͡sʰel/ to build, construct #1,142
- Basque eraiki/eɾai̯ki/ to build, to erect #519
- Catalan construir[kuns.tɾuˈi] to build; to construct #1,257
- Chinese 建造/t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡sɑʊ̯⁵¹/ to build; to construct #980
- Danish bygge/byɡə/ to build, construct #1,389
- Dutch bouwen/ˈbɑu̯ə(n)/ to build, to construct #1,373
- English make/meɪk/ To build, construct, produce, or originate #113
- Estonian ehitada/ˈehitɑd̥ɑ/ to build #1,368
- Finnish rakentaa/ˈrɑkentɑːˣ/ to build, construct, make #2,279
- French construire/kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ/ to build #2,152
- Galician construír/konstɾuˈiɾ/ to build, to construct #1,139
- German bauen[ˈbaʊ̯ən] to build, to construct #1,473
- Greek έφτιαξα/ˈe.ftça.ksa/ to make, build, create, construct #1,692
- Hebrew בנה/baˈna/ to build, to construct, to raise, to erect #1,703
- Icelandic byggja[ˈpɪc(ː)a] to build #1,057
- Italian costruire/kos.truˈi.re/ to build, construct #2,159
- Korean 덩치[tʌ̹ŋt͡ɕʰi] frame, build #1,783
- Macedonian става[ˈstava] build, stature, figure #1,869
- Malay bina/ˈbina/ to build #1,165
- Norwegian bygge/ˈbʏɡə/ to build #1,173
- Portuguese construir/kõs.tɾuˈi(ʁ)/ to build #1,581
- Romanian dura/duˈra/ to build #1,152
- Slovak stavať/stavac/ to build, to construct #2,041
- Spanish construir/konsˈtɾwiɾ/ to build #2,162
- Swedish bygga/ˈbʏˌɡːa/ to build; to construct #1,144
- Telugu నిర్మించారు/ˈnirminˌcaːru/ to build #1,310
- Turkish yapmak/japˈmak/ to make; to build, construct, fashion; to… #226
- Vietnamese xây[səj˧˧] to build #958
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), 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.