How to say “certain” 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 Albanian, where duhet is the 27th most used word.
- Afrikaans sekere some, certain #865
- Albanian duhet to do with certainty; indicates that the… #27
- Arabic متأكد certain, sure #214
- Armenian ոմն some, certain #1,673
- Bosnian siguran sure, certain #266
- Bulgarian сигурен sure, certain, positive #237
- Chinese 某些 some; certain #611
- Croatian siguran sure, certain #272
- Czech jistý certain, sure #478
- Danish banken only used in certain expressions #1,585
- Dutch nou come on; modal particle indicating a certain… #103
- English some A certain number #100
- Esperanto certas to be certain #303
- Estonian kindel sure, certain #188
- Finnish varma sure, certain #254
- French sûr sure, certain #139
- Greek σίγουρος secure, certain #351
- Hebrew בטוח Confident, sure, certain #135
- Hindi कोई some, certain, any #47
- Hungarian bizonyos sure, certain #917
- Icelandic viss certain, sure, positive #182
- Indonesian pasti certain, sure #133
- Italian certa certain, sure #1,217
- Korean 이래 the time following a certain event, until now… #508
- Macedonian сигурен sure, certain #205
- Malay tempat A certain place #97
- Norwegian adam Certain properties of a person, often derived… #1,513
- Persian را Follows certain nouns being used adverbially,… #64
- Polish pewno absolutely, for certain, certainly,… #258
- Romanian sigură sure, certain to be true #551
- Russian кое-что a certain something #301
- Serbian siguran sure, certain #273
- Slovak istý certain, sure #193
- Slovenian včasih sometimes, on certain occasions #189
- Spanish cierto a certain, a specific #245
- Swedish vet to know; to be certain about, to have… #36
- Tagalog sigurado sure; certain #276
- Turkish kesin certain, definitive #443
- Ukrainian якийсь some, a certain #555
- Urdu بعض some, certain, few, several #701
- Vietnamese mò certain herbaceous plants #1,430
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.