How to say “clean” in 47 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 Latvian, where skaidrs is the 195th most used word.
- Afrikaans skoon clean; cleansed #460
- Albanian pastër #523
- Arabic نظيف clean, pure, cleanly #1,556
- Armenian մաքրել to clean #922
- Basque garbi #331
- Bengali সাফ #1,441
- Bosnian čist clean, pure #1,636
- Bulgarian чист clean, cleanly #1,326
- Catalan netejar to clean #1,950
- Chinese 清理 to clean; to tidy up; to arrange #655
- Croatian čist clean, pure #1,541
- Czech čistý #1,670
- Dutch wassen to wash, to clean #2,326
- English wash To clean with water #1,607
- Esperanto pura pure, clean #905
- Estonian puhas #683
- Finnish siistiä clean, neat, tidy #1,410
- French nettoyer to clean #1,794
- Galician limpar to clean #1,756
- Georgian სუფთა blank, pristine, clean, pure, spotless,… #1,190
- German sauber #1,273
- Greek καθαρά clean, clear #1,391
- Hebrew נקי #800
- Hindi साफ़ #1,113
- Hungarian tisztában clean, neat, spotless, stainless #1,839
- Icelandic hreinsa to clean, to cleanse #1,108
- Indonesian membersihkan to clean #1,008
- Korean 깨끗한 to be clean #1,265
- Latvian skaidrs clean, clear, bright, without clouds #195
- Lithuanian švarus sanitary, clean #1,269
- Macedonian чист clean, pure #996
- Malay bersih clean, clear, hygienic, pure #897
- Norwegian ren #1,203
- Persian پاک clean, pure #573
- Polish czysty clean, tidy #2,334
- Portuguese limpar to clean #1,275
- Romanian pur pure, clean, clear #610
- Serbian čist clean, pure #1,500
- Slovak čistý #828
- Slovenian čist #721
- Spanish limpio to clean #1,806
- Swedish rena #1,164
- Tagalog linisin to clean; to make clean #773
- Telugu తుడుచు to wipe or rub clean #1,003
- Turkish temiz #650
- Urdu صاف #294
- Vietnamese tráng to clean or cleanse something that's hollow… #1,797
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.