How to say “change” 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.
- vuelta/ˈbwelta/ Spanish
- изменить[izmʲæˈnʲitʲ] Russian
- تغير/taɣajjara/ Arabic
- बदल/bə.d̪əl/ Hindi
- αλλαγή/alaˈʝi/ Greek
- שינוי/ʃiˈnui/ Hebrew
“change” in Spanish: vuelta · German: ändern · Portuguese: mudar · Russian: изменить · Arabic: تغير · Hindi: बदल · Turkish: değişiklik · Greek: αλλαγή
It is commonest in Urdu, where تبدیل is the 191st most used word.
Change in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans wysig/ˈvɛɪsəx/ to edit, change, modify #2,021
- Albanian ndryshuar/ndɾyʃuaɾ/ to change, to alter, to modify #602
- Arabic تغير/taɣajjara/ to change, to be altered #633
- Armenian փոխվել/pʰoχˈvel/ to change, to alter #855
- Basque aldatu/aldatu/ to change #216
- Bosnian promijeniti/promijěːniti/ to change #1,095
- Bulgarian променя[promɛˈnʲɤ̟] to change, to alter #933
- Catalan canvi[ˈkam.bi] #558
- Chinese 成為/ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ weɪ̯³⁵/ to become; to turn into; to change into #1,021
- Croatian promijeniti/promijěːniti/ to change #759
- Czech změnit[ˈzm̩ɲɛɲɪt] to change #867
- Danish ændre/ɛndrə/ to change, to alter #765
- Dutch veranderen/vəˈrɑndərə(n)/ to change #588
- English move/muːv/ To change place or posture; to go, in any… #272
- Esperanto ŝanĝi/ˈʃand͡ʒi/ to change #706
- Estonian liikuma/ˈliˑkumɑ/ to move to change one's position or location,… #918
- Finnish muuttaa/ˈmuːtːɑːˣ/ to modify, change, alter, amend #688
- French tourne/ˈtuʁn/ to turn; to change; to rotate; to spin #1,235
- Galician cambio/ˈkambjo/ to change #706
- Georgian ცვლილება[t͡sʰʷlile̞bä] alteration, change, mutation, permutation,… #1,128
- German ändern/ˈʔɛndɐn/ to change, to alter #806
- Greek αλλαγή/alaˈʝi/ change, differentiation, replacement #1,115
- Hebrew שינוי/ʃiˈnui/ A change #764
- Hindi बदल/bə.d̪əl/ #317
- Hungarian változott[ˈvaːltozotː] to change #1,935
- Icelandic skipti[ˈscɪftɪ] a change, an exchange #395
- Indonesian berubah/bərˈʊbah/ to change, to shift #351
- Latvian mainīt[māīnîːt] to change, to exchange #1,240
- Lithuanian pakeisti #510
- Macedonian промени[ˈprɔmɛni] change, alteration #674
- Malay berubah/bəˈrubah/ to change, to shift #384
- Malayalam മാറ്റം/maːrrɐm/ #470
- Norwegian forandret/fɔˈrɑndrət/ to change, alter #995
- Persian تغییر[t̪ʰæɢ.jíːɹ] change, modification #764
- Polish zmienić/ˈzmjɛ.ɲit͡ɕ/ to change #815
- Portuguese mudar/muˈda(ʁ)/ to change #534
- Romanian restul/ˈrestul/ #572
- Russian изменить[izmʲæˈnʲitʲ] to change, to alter, to modify, to edit #1,209
- Serbian promeniti/proměːniti/ to change #1,312
- Slovak zmeniť/zmeɲic/ to change, to alter, to modify #485
- Slovenian spremeniti/sprɛmɛnìːti/ to change, to modify, to alter #520
- Spanish vuelta/ˈbwelta/ #428
- Swedish ändra/ˈɛndra/ to change, to alter #971
- Tagalog pagbabago/paɡbaˈbaɡo/ #1,191
- Tamil மாற்றம்/mɑːrːɐm/ #398
- Turkish değişiklik/deiʃicˈlic/ change, edit #1,615
- Ukrainian змінити[zʲmʲiˈnɪte] to change, to alter, to modify #999
- Urdu تبدیل/t̪əb.d̪iːl/ change, replace #191
- Vietnamese trở[t͡ɕəː˧˩] to turn, to change #185
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 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.