How to say “care” in 49 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.
- заботиться[zɐˈbotʲɪt͡sə] Russian
- رعاية/ri.ʕaː.ja/ Arabic
- परवाह/pəɾ.ʋɑːɦ/ Hindi
- հոգ/hokʰ/ Armenian
- যত্ন/d͡ʒɔt̪no/ Bengali
- கவலை/kɐʋɐlɐɪ̯/ Tamil
“care” in French: soin · Italian: cura · Russian: заботиться · Arabic: رعاية · Hindi: परवाह · Turkish: bakım
It is commonest in Tamil, where கவலை is the 240th most used word.
Care in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans sorg/sɔrχ/ care; worry; concern #310
- Albanian kujdesem/kujdɛsɛm/ to take care of #698
- Arabic رعاية/ri.ʕaː.ja/ care, support, custody #1,536
- Armenian հոգ/hokʰ/ #431
- Basque zaindu/s̻ai̯ndu/ to take care, look after #318
- Bengali যত্ন/d͡ʒɔt̪no/ care, attention #581
- Bosnian smeta/ˈsmɛtɐ/ to mind, care about #789
- Catalan cura[ˈku.ɾə] #953
- Chinese 不在乎/pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ t͡saɪ̯⁵¹ xu¹/ not to care; not to mind #357
- Croatian smeta/ˈsmɛtɐ/ to mind, care about #813
- Czech postarat[ˈpostarat] to take care #1,487
- Danish hensyn/ˈhɛnˌsyːˀn/ care, concern, consideration, regard, respect #2,185
- Dutch zorgen/ˈzɔrɣə(n)/ #258
- English careful/ˈkɛɹfəl/ Taking care; attentive to potential danger,… #655
- Esperanto zorgojn/ˈzorɡoi̯n/ #1,512
- Estonian ravi/ˈrɑvi/ care, cure #1,218
- Finnish hoitaa/ˈhoi̯tɑːˣ/ to nurse, care for, take care of, look after #587
- French soin/swɛ̃/ #1,012
- Galician quérote/ˈkɛɾote/ I love you; I care about you #1,499
- German sorgen/ˈzɔrɡən/ concern, care, responsibility, aid #420
- Greek νοιάζει/ˈɲa.zi/ to care for #532
- Hebrew אכפת/ʔiχˈpat/ Used to indicate someone's care or concern… #224
- Hindi परवाह/pəɾ.ʋɑːɦ/ care, heed, notice #456
- Hungarian tőlem[ˈtøːlɛm] for all I care #450
- Icelandic vanda[ˈvanta] to do something with care and effort, to take… #624
- Indonesian peduli/pəˈduli/ to care #279
- Italian cura/ˈku.ra/ #647
- Korean 조심[ˈt͡ɕo̞(ː)ɕʰim] caution, care #897
- Lithuanian saugoti[¹ˈsɑˑʊɡoːtʲɪ] to protect, take care of, preserve #1,085
- Macedonian грижи[ˈɡriʒi] care, concern, worry #265
- Malay kasih/ˈkaseh/ love, care, affection #69
- Malayalam ചികിത്സ/t͡ʃiɡit̪sɐ/ treatment, medical care #1,003
- Norwegian pleide/ˈplæ͡ɪdə/ to nurse, care for, look after, take care of #931
- Polish uważaj/uˈva.ʐaj/ to watch out, to take care, to look out #683
- Portuguese cuidado/kujˈda.du/ to take care; to look after #380
- Romanian care-i/ˈka.rej/ contraction of care + îi #599
- Russian заботиться[zɐˈbotʲɪt͡sə] to care, to take care, to look after #2,413
- Serbian smeta/ˈsmɛtɐ/ to mind, care about #776
- Slovak starostlivosť/ˈstarɔstlivɔsc/ #1,410
- Slovenian briga/bríːɡa/ #353
- Spanish cuidado/kwiˈdado/ to look after, take care of #378
- Swedish sköta/²ɧøːˌta/ to manage, to take care of, to care for, to… #1,371
- Tagalog pakialam/pakiʔaˈlam/ care; concern; sympathy #345
- Tamil கவலை/kɐʋɐlɐɪ̯/ care, anxiety, solicitude #240
- Telugu శ్రద్ధ/ˈɕraddʰa/ attention, care #431
- Turkish bakım/baˈkɯm/ care, attention, maintenance, upkeep #2,439
- Ukrainian увага[ʊˈʋaɦɐ] #1,194
- Urdu توجہ/t̪ə.ʋəd̪.d͡ʒʊ(ɦ)/ attention, care #300
- Vietnamese quản[kwaːn˧˩] to care #888
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), 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.