How to say “car” in 47 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.
- coche/ˈkot͡ʃe/ Spanish
- машина[mɐˈʂɨnə] Russian
- गाड़ी/ɡɑː.ɽiː/ Hindi
- αυτοκίνητο[a.ftoˈki.ni.to] Greek
- מכונית/mχoˈnit/ Hebrew
- গাড়ি/ɡaɽi/ Bengali
“car” in Spanish: coche · French: voiture · German: auto · Russian: машина · Hindi: गाड़ी · Turkish: araba · Greek: αυτοκίνητο
It is commonest in Slovenian, where avto is the 168th most used word.
Car in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans motor/ˈmʊə̯.tər/ car, automobile #977
- Albanian makinë/maˈkin(ə)/ #302
- Arabic سيارة/saj.jaː.ra/ automobile, car, motorcar #217
- Basque auto/au̯to/ automobile, car #385
- Bengali গাড়ি/ɡaɽi/ #1,625
- Bosnian auto/ǎuto/ car, automobile #319
- Bulgarian кола[koˈɫa] car, motorcar, automobile, sedan, saloon car #413
- Croatian auto/ǎuto/ car, automobile #326
- Czech auto[ˈau̯to] car, automobile #379
- Danish bil/biːl/ car, automobile #313
- Dutch auto/ˈɑu̯.toː/ car, automobile #245
- English garage/ɡəˈɹɑʒ/ A building used to store a car or cars, tools… #2,405
- Esperanto aŭto/ˈau̯to/ a car #661
- Estonian auto/ˈɑu̯to/ car, automobile #316
- Finnish auto/ˈɑu̯to/ car, automobile #523
- French voiture/vwa.tyʁ/ #254
- Galician coche/ˈkɔt͡ʃe/ #355
- German auto/ˈaʊ̯to/ #397
- Greek αυτοκίνητο[a.ftoˈki.ni.to] car, motorcar, automobile #521
- Hebrew מכונית/mχoˈnit/ #692
- Hindi गाड़ी/ɡɑː.ɽiː/ car, truck, bus #1,219
- Hungarian autó[ˈɒu̯toː] auto, automobile, car #1,419
- Icelandic bílnum/ˈpilnʏm/ #378
- Indonesian mobil/ˈmobil/ car, automobile, a vehicle steered by a driver #239
- Italian auto/ˈa.u.to/ clipping of automobile: car #455
- Korean 자동차[t͡ɕa̠do̞ŋt͡ɕʰa̠] automobile, car #745
- Latvian auto/ˈautoː/ #835
- Lithuanian automobilį/ɐʊtoːmoːˈbɪliː/ car, automobile #752
- Macedonian кола[ˈkɔɫa] car, motorcar, automobile #364
- Malay kereta/kəˈreta/ automobile, car, motorcar: A wheeled vehicle… #179
- Malayalam കാർ/kaːr/ car, automobile #385
- Norwegian bilen/ˈbiːln̩/ a car, automobile #246
- Persian ماشین[mɒː.ʃíːn] #487
- Polish samochód/saˈmɔ.xut/ car, automobile #454
- Romanian mașină/maˈʃi.nə/ #2,430
- Russian машина[mɐˈʂɨnə] car, motor vehicle #670
- Serbian auto/ǎuto/ car, automobile #342
- Slovak auto/ˈau̯tɔ/ #234
- Slovenian avto/áːʋtɔ/ car, automobile #168
- Spanish coche/ˈkot͡ʃe/ car, automobile #407
- Swedish bilen/ˈbiːlɛn/ a car #310
- Tagalog kotse/ˈkot͡ʃe/ car; automobile #268
- Tamil தேர்/t̪eːɾ/ chariot, vehicle, car #969
- Turkish araba/ɑ.ɾɑ.ˈbɑ/ #418
- Ukrainian машина[mɐˈʃɪnɐ] car, automobile, motor vehicle #458
- Urdu گاڑی/ɡɑː.ɽiː/ #223
- Vietnamese toa[twaː˧˧] a railroad car/railway carriage #2,038
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), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 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.