How to say “chance” in 48 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.
- шанс[ʂans] Russian
- فرصة/fur.sˤa/ Arabic
- סיכוי/siˈkuj/ Hebrew
- შანსი[ʃänsi] Georgian
- வாய்ப்பு/ʋɑːjpːɯ/ Tamil
“chance” in French: hasard · German: chance · Italian: caso · Russian: шанс · Arabic: فرصة · Turkish: şans
It is commonest in Tamil, where வாய்ப்பு is the 180th most used word.
Chance in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans kans/kans/ #509
- Albanian mundësi/mundəsi/ possibility, chance #294
- Arabic فرصة/fur.sˤa/ chance, occasion, opportunity #228
- Armenian պատահականություն/pɑtɑhɑkɑnuˈtʰjun/ coincidence, chance, accident #751
- Basque zori/s̻oɾi/ luck, chance, fate, fortune #1,844
- Bengali সুযোগ/ʃud͡ʒoɡ/ opportunity, chance #253
- Bosnian šanse/ˈʃansɛ/ chance, opportunity #541
- Bulgarian случайно[sɫoˈt͡ʃa̟jno] accidentally, incidentally, by chance #1,021
- Catalan oportunitat[u.pur.tu.niˈtat] opportunity, chance #449
- Chinese 正好/ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵¹ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ as it happens; by chance #492
- Croatian šanse/ˈʃansɛ/ chance, opportunity #561
- Czech šance[ˈʃant͡sɛ] chance, odds, opportunity or possibility #837
- Danish chance[ˈɕɑŋsə] #436
- Dutch kans/kɑns/ #352
- English luck/lʌk/ Something that happens to someone by chance,… #606
- Esperanto hazarde/haˈzarde/ by chance; randomly; at random #1,108
- Estonian võimalus/ˈvɤi̯mɑlus/ #401
- Finnish mahdollisuus/ˈmɑhdolːisuːs/ possibility, chance, probability, likelihood #1,263
- French hasard/a.zaʁ/ #1,702
- Georgian შანსი[ʃänsi] chance, hazard #553
- German chance/ˈʃãːs(ə)/ #536
- Greek μήπως/ˈmi.pos/ if, by any chance, perhaps, maybe #303
- Hebrew סיכוי/siˈkuj/ A chance, probability, possibility #430
- Hindi बारी/bɑː.ɾiː/ turn, chance, try #766
- Hungarian lehetőség[ˈlɛhɛtøːʃeːɡ] #1,166
- Icelandic tækifæri[ˈtʰaiːcɪˌfaiːrɪ] opportunity, chance #386
- Indonesian kesempatan/kəsəmˈpatan/ a chance for advancement, progress or profit #333
- Italian caso/ˈka.zo/ chance, fate #250
- Korean 혹시[ɸʷo̞kɕ͈i] by chance #206
- Lithuanian proga[ˈprôːɡɐ] chance, opportunity #757
- Macedonian шанса[ˈʃansa] #302
- Malay can/ˈt͡ʃan/ #1,281
- Malayalam അവസരം/ɐʋɐsɐɾɐm/ opportunity, chance #243
- Norwegian sjanse/ʂaŋsə/ a chance #516
- Persian شانس[ʃɒːns] #348
- Polish szansę/ˈʂan.sɛ/ chance, opportunity #734
- Portuguese acaso/aˈka.zu/ by chance #1,074
- Russian шанс[ʂans] chance, prospect #543
- Serbian šanse/ˈʃansɛ/ chance, opportunity #517
- Spanish oportunidad/opoɾtuniˈdad/ opportunity, chance, shot, break, occasion,… #441
- Swedish chans/xans/ a chance #431
- Tagalog pagkakataon/paɡkaˌkataˈʔon/ opportunity; chance #309
- Tamil வாய்ப்பு/ʋɑːjpːɯ/ chance, opportunity, opening #180
- Telugu అదృష్టము/ad̪ɻ̍ʂʈamu/ fortune, luck, chance, fate #593
- Turkish şans/ʃɑns/ #550
- Ukrainian шанс[ʃans] #407
- Urdu موقع/mɔː.qɑː/ chance, opportunity #383
- Vietnamese dịp[zip̚˧˨ʔ] opportunity; chance; occasion; time #1,865
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.