How to say “business” in 42 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.
- бизнес[ˈbʲiznɨs] Russian
- أعمال/ʔaʕmaːl/ Arabic
- 사업[ˈsʰa̠(ː)ʌ̹p̚] Korean
- व्यापार/ʋjɑː.pɑːɾ/ Hindi
- υπόθεση/iˈpoθeˌsi/ Greek
- עסק/ˈesek/ Hebrew
“business” in French: affaire · Korean: 사업 · Russian: бизнес · Arabic: أعمال · Hindi: व्यापार · Greek: υπόθεση
It is commonest in French, where affaire is the 348th most used word.
Business in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans aangaan/ˈɑːn.χɑːn/ to concern; to be a concern to; to be… #463
- Albanian biznes/biznɛs/ #790
- Arabic أعمال/ʔaʕmaːl/ #708
- Bengali ব্যবসা/bæbʃa/ business, trade #565
- Bulgarian бизнес[ˈbiznɛs] #631
- Catalan negoci[nəˈɣɔ.si] #962
- Chinese 事情/ʂɻ̩⁵¹ t͡ɕʰiŋ¹/ matter; affair; something; business; thing;… #28
- Czech záležitost[ˈzaːlɛʒɪtost] #1,592
- Danish forretning/fɒˈʁɛdneŋ/ #1,390
- Dutch gezelschap/ɣəˈzɛlˌsxɑp/ company, business #1,740
- English busy/ˈbɪz.i/ Crowded with business or activities; having a… #738
- Estonian äri/ˈæri/ #685
- French affaire/a.fɛʁ/ business; matter; affair #348
- Georgian ბიზნესი[b̥izne̞si] business, company, commercial enterprise #1,354
- German firma/fɪrma/ A company, a business #1,113
- Greek υπόθεση/iˈpoθeˌsi/ business, matter, affair #445
- Hebrew עסק/ˈesek/ business, enterprise; deal #799
- Hindi व्यापार/ʋjɑː.pɑːɾ/ business, trade, commerce #599
- Hungarian üzlet[ˈyzlɛt] #1,352
- Icelandic erindi[ˈɛːrɪntɪ] errand, business #1,355
- Indonesian bisnis[ˈbɪsnɪs] #546
- Italian azienda/adˈd͡zjɛn.da/ firm, company, business, concern,… #1,889
- Korean 사업[ˈsʰa̠(ː)ʌ̹p̚] #1,061
- Latvian darbu/ˈdarbu/ work, job, business #253
- Lithuanian reikalas[²ˈrʲɛɪˑkɐlɐs] business, affair, matter, issue #400
- Macedonian бизнис[ˈbiznis] business, enterprise #644
- Malay hal/ˈhal/ matter; affair; business #232
- Malayalam കച്ചവടം/kɐt͡ʃt͡ʃɐʋɐɖɐm/ #555
- Norwegian virket/ˈvɪrkət/ business; work #952
- Persian کسب[kʰʲæsb̥] trade, business, profession #1,311
- Polish interes/inˈtɛ.rɛs/ interest, business, affair #1,260
- Portuguese empresa/ẽˈpɾe.zɐ/ company; business #914
- Romanian afaceri/aˈfatʃeɾʲˌʲ/ #705
- Russian бизнес[ˈbʲiznɨs] #1,366
- Slovak záležitosť/ˈzaː.ɫe.ʒi.tɔsc/ #863
- Spanish control/konˈtɾol/ control, or running of a business #671
- Tagalog negosyo/neˈɡosjo/ #934
- Tamil வியாபாரம்/ʋɪjɑːbɑːɾɐm/ business, commerce, trade #818
- Turkish ticaret/ti.d͡ʒaːˈɾet/ trade, commerce, business #2,486
- Ukrainian бізнес[ˈbʲiznes] #1,635
- Urdu کاروبار/kɑː.ɾoː.bɑːɾ/ business, trade #474
- Vietnamese việc[viək̚˧˨ʔ] job, work, business #74
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 Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), 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.