How to say “business” in 42 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 Chinese, where 事情 is the 28th most used word.
- Afrikaans aangaan to concern; to be a concern to; to be… #463
- Albanian biznes #790
- Arabic أعمال #708
- Bengali ব্যবসা business, trade #565
- Bulgarian бизнес #631
- Catalan negoci #962
- Chinese 事情 matter; affair; something; business; thing;… #28
- Czech záležitost #1,592
- Danish forretning #1,390
- Dutch gezelschap company, business #1,740
- English busy Crowded with business or activities; having a… #738
- Estonian äri #685
- French affaire business; matter; affair #348
- Georgian ბიზნესი business, company, commercial enterprise #1,354
- German firma A company, a business #1,113
- Greek υπόθεση business, matter, affair #445
- Hebrew עסק business, enterprise; deal #799
- Hindi व्यापार business, trade, commerce #599
- Hungarian üzlet #1,352
- Icelandic erindi errand, business #1,355
- Indonesian bisnis #546
- Italian azienda firm, company, business, concern,… #1,889
- Korean 사업 #1,061
- Latvian darbu work, job, business #253
- Lithuanian reikalas business, affair, matter, issue #400
- Macedonian бизнис business, enterprise #644
- Malay hal matter; affair; business #232
- Malayalam കച്ചവടം #555
- Norwegian virket business; work #952
- Persian کسب trade, business, profession #1,311
- Polish interes interest, business, affair #1,260
- Portuguese empresa company; business #914
- Romanian afaceri #705
- Russian бизнес #1,366
- Slovak záležitosť #863
- Spanish control control, or running of a business #671
- Tagalog negosyo #934
- Tamil வியாபாரம் business, commerce, trade #818
- Turkish ticaret trade, commerce, business #2,486
- Ukrainian бізнес #1,635
- Urdu کاروبار business, trade #474
- Vietnamese việc job, work, business #74
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.