How to say “chance” in 48 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 Tamil, where வாய்ப்பு is the 180th most used word.
- Afrikaans kans #509
- Albanian mundësi possibility, chance #294
- Arabic فرصة chance, occasion, opportunity #228
- Armenian պատահականություն coincidence, chance, accident #751
- Basque zori luck, chance, fate, fortune #1,844
- Bengali সুযোগ opportunity, chance #253
- Bosnian šanse chance, opportunity #541
- Bulgarian случайно accidentally, incidentally, by chance #1,021
- Catalan oportunitat opportunity, chance #449
- Chinese 正好 as it happens; by chance #492
- Croatian šanse chance, opportunity #561
- Czech šance chance, odds, opportunity or possibility #837
- Danish chance #436
- Dutch kans #352
- English luck Something that happens to someone by chance,… #606
- Esperanto hazarde by chance; randomly; at random #1,108
- Estonian võimalus #401
- Finnish mahdollisuus possibility, chance, probability, likelihood #1,263
- French hasard #1,702
- Georgian შანსი chance, hazard #553
- German chance #536
- Greek μήπως if, by any chance, perhaps, maybe #303
- Hebrew סיכוי A chance, probability, possibility #430
- Hindi बारी turn, chance, try #766
- Hungarian lehetőség #1,166
- Icelandic tækifæri opportunity, chance #386
- Indonesian kesempatan a chance for advancement, progress or profit #333
- Italian caso chance, fate #250
- Korean 혹시 by chance #206
- Lithuanian proga chance, opportunity #757
- Macedonian шанса #302
- Malay can #1,281
- Malayalam അവസരം opportunity, chance #243
- Norwegian sjanse a chance #516
- Persian شانس #348
- Polish szansę chance, opportunity #734
- Portuguese acaso by chance #1,074
- Russian шанс chance, prospect #543
- Serbian šanse chance, opportunity #517
- Spanish oportunidad opportunity, chance, shot, break, occasion,… #441
- Swedish chans a chance #431
- Tagalog pagkakataon opportunity; chance #309
- Tamil வாய்ப்பு chance, opportunity, opening #180
- Telugu అదృష్టము fortune, luck, chance, fate #593
- Turkish şans #550
- Ukrainian шанс #407
- Urdu موقع chance, opportunity #383
- Vietnamese dịp opportunity; chance; occasion; time #1,865
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.