How to say “bus” 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 Telugu, where బస్సు is the 471st most used word.
- Afrikaans bus #725
- Albanian autobus #1,439
- Arabic حافلة bus; streetcar #1,713
- Basque autobusa #923
- Bosnian autobus #1,527
- Bulgarian автобус bus, motorbus #2,146
- Catalan autobús #1,744
- Chinese 巴士 #1,266
- Croatian autobus #1,771
- Czech autobus bus, coach, omnibus #2,058
- Danish bussen bus, coach #1,643
- Dutch bus bus, omnibus #1,145
- Esperanto buso bus, coach, autobus #2,096
- Estonian bussi #1,405
- German bus #1,534
- Greek λεωφορείο bus, omnibus #1,288
- Hebrew אוטובוס a bus #1,809
- Hindi गाड़ी car, truck, bus #1,219
- Italian autobus #1,884
- Korean 버스 #951
- Latvian autobusā #2,405
- Lithuanian autobusas #1,664
- Macedonian автобус #1,440
- Malay bas #906
- Malayalam ബസ് #586
- Norwegian bussen #1,464
- Persian اتوبوس #868
- Portuguese autocarro #1,449
- Romanian autobuz #1,593
- Russian автобус bus, motorbus #2,294
- Serbian autobus #1,636
- Slovak autobus a bus #1,015
- Slovenian avtobus #654
- Spanish autobús bus, coach #1,648
- Swedish bussen a bus, a vehicle to transport people #1,677
- Tagalog bus #1,777
- Tamil பஸ் #829
- Telugu బస్సు #471
- Turkish otobüs #1,717
- Ukrainian автобус bus, motorbus #1,242
- Vietnamese buýt #1,697
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.