How to say “clean” in 47 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.
- limpio/ˈlimpjo/ Spanish
- نظيف/na.ðˤiːf/ Arabic
- 清理/t͡ɕʰiŋ⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ Chinese
- साफ़/sɑːf/ Hindi
- καθαρά/ˌkaθaˈra/ Greek
- נקי/naˈki/ Hebrew
“clean” in Spanish: limpio · French: nettoyer · German: sauber · Portuguese: limpar · Chinese: 清理 · Arabic: نظيف · Hindi: साफ़ · Turkish: temiz
It is commonest in Latvian, where skaidrs is the 195th most used word.
Clean in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans skoon/skʊə̯n/ clean; cleansed #460
- Albanian pastër/pastəɾ/ #523
- Arabic نظيف/na.ðˤiːf/ clean, pure, cleanly #1,556
- Armenian մաքրել/mɑkʰˈɾel/ to clean #922
- Basque garbi/ɡarbi/ #331
- Bengali সাফ/saf/ #1,441
- Bosnian čist/t͡ʃîst/ clean, pure #1,636
- Bulgarian чист[t͡ʃist] clean, cleanly #1,326
- Catalan netejar[nə.təˈʒa] to clean #1,950
- Chinese 清理/t͡ɕʰiŋ⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to clean; to tidy up; to arrange #655
- Croatian čist/t͡ʃîst/ clean, pure #1,541
- Czech čistý[ˈt͡ʃɪstiː] #1,670
- Dutch wassen/ˈʋɑ.sə(n)/ to wash, to clean #2,326
- English wash/wɑʃ/ To clean with water #1,607
- Esperanto pura/ˈpura/ pure, clean #905
- Estonian puhas/ˈpuhɑs/ #683
- Finnish siistiä/ˈsiːstiæˣ/ clean, neat, tidy #1,410
- French nettoyer/nɛ.twa.je/ to clean #1,794
- Galician limpar/limˈpaɾ/ to clean #1,756
- Georgian სუფთა[supʰtʰä] blank, pristine, clean, pure, spotless,… #1,190
- German sauber/ˈzaʊ̯bɐ/ #1,273
- Greek καθαρά/ˌkaθaˈra/ clean, clear #1,391
- Hebrew נקי/naˈki/ #800
- Hindi साफ़/sɑːf/ #1,113
- Hungarian tisztában[ˈtistaːbɒn] clean, neat, spotless, stainless #1,839
- Icelandic hreinsa/ˈr̥einsa/ to clean, to cleanse #1,108
- Indonesian membersihkan/məmbərˈsihkan/ to clean #1,008
- Korean 깨끗한[k͈ɛk͈ɯtʰa̠n] to be clean #1,265
- Latvian skaidrs[skāīdrs] clean, clear, bright, without clouds #195
- Lithuanian švarus[ʃʋɐˈrʊs] sanitary, clean #1,269
- Macedonian чист[t͡ʃist] clean, pure #996
- Malay bersih/bərˈsih/ clean, clear, hygienic, pure #897
- Norwegian ren/reːn/ #1,203
- Persian پاک[pʰɒːkʰʲ] clean, pure #573
- Polish czysty/ˈt͡ʂɘs.tɘ/ clean, tidy #2,334
- Portuguese limpar/lĩˈpa(ʁ)/ to clean #1,275
- Romanian pur/pur/ pure, clean, clear #610
- Serbian čist/t͡ʃîst/ clean, pure #1,500
- Slovak čistý/t͡ʃistiː/ #828
- Slovenian čist/t͡ʃíːst/ #721
- Spanish limpio/ˈlimpjo/ to clean #1,806
- Swedish rena/ˈreːna/ #1,164
- Tagalog linisin/liˈnisin/ to clean; to make clean #773
- Telugu తుడుచు/t̪uɖut͡ɕu/ to wipe or rub clean #1,003
- Turkish temiz/te.miz/ #650
- Urdu صاف/sɑːf/ #294
- Vietnamese tráng[t͡ɕaːŋ˧˦] to clean or cleanse something that's hollow… #1,797
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), 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.