How to say “conversation” in 44 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.
- conversación/kombeɾsaˈθjon/ Spanish
- مكالمة/mu.kaː.la.ma/ Arabic
- बातचीत/bɑːt̪.t͡ʃiːt̪/ Hindi
- שיחה/siˈχa/ Hebrew
- საუბარი[säubäɾi] Georgian
- কথাবার্তা/kɔt̪ʰabaɾt̪a/ Bengali
“conversation” in Spanish: conversación · French: conversation · German: gespräch · Italian: conversazione · Arabic: مكالمة · Hindi: बातचीत · Turkish: sohbet
It is commonest in Tamil, where பேச்சு is the 385th most used word.
Conversation in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans gesprek/χəˈsprɛk/ talk, conversation #889
- Albanian bisedë/biˈsɛːd/ #1,130
- Arabic مكالمة/mu.kaː.la.ma/ conversation; discussion #789
- Bengali কথাবার্তা/kɔt̪ʰabaɾt̪a/ #814
- Bosnian razgovor/râzɡoʋoːr/ talk, conversation #760
- Bulgarian хората[ˈxɔrɐtɐ] talking, speaking, conversation #152
- Catalan conversa[kumˈbɛr.sə] conversation, discussion #1,460
- Croatian razgovor/râzɡoʋoːr/ talk, conversation #694
- Czech rozhovor[ˈrozɦovor] #1,444
- Danish samtale/sɑmtæːlə/ conversation, talk, discourse #1,339
- Dutch gesprek/ɣəˈsprɛk/ talk, verbal conversation #878
- English buddy/ˈbʌdi/ A person far removed from the conversation #811
- Estonian jutt/ˈjutː/ discussion, conversation #697
- Finnish puhelu/ˈpuhelu/ talk, conversation #1,985
- French conversation/kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sa.sjɔ̃/ #1,358
- Galician conversa/komˈbɛɾsa/ #1,928
- Georgian საუბარი[säubäɾi] conversation, talk #412
- German gespräch/ɡəˈʃpʁɛːç/ conversation, chat, talk #1,523
- Greek συζήτηση/siˈzitisi/ discussion, debate, conversation #1,113
- Hebrew שיחה/siˈχa/ conversation; talk, chat #682
- Hindi बातचीत/bɑːt̪.t͡ʃiːt̪/ #1,177
- Icelandic símtal[ˈsim.tʰaːl] phone call, phone conversation #1,215
- Indonesian pembicaraan/pəmˌbitʃaˈraan/ #1,550
- Italian conversazione/kon.ver.satˈt͡sjo.ne/ conversation, talk, interview #1,742
- Korean 대화[ˈtɛ(ː)βwa̠] dialogue, conversation #842
- Latvian saruna/ˈsaruna/ talk, conversation, discourse #1,304
- Lithuanian pokalbis[¹ˈpoːkɐlʲbʲɪs] conversation, talking #1,068
- Macedonian разговор[ˈrazɡɔvɔr] talk, conversation #805
- Malay bercakap/bə(r)ˈt͡ʃakap/ To have a conversation #161
- Malayalam സംസാരം/sɐmsäːɾɐm/ talk, speech, conversation #505
- Norwegian samtalen/ˈsɑmˌtɑːln̩/ #1,502
- Persian مکالمه[mo.kʰɒː.le.mé] talk, conversation #1,986
- Polish rozmowy/rɔzˈmɔ.vɘ/ #1,545
- Russian поговорить[pəɡəvɐˈrʲitʲ] to have a conversation, to talk #234
- Serbian razgovor/râzɡoʋoːr/ talk, conversation #774
- Slovenian pogovor/pɔɡɔ́ːʋɔr/ #432
- Spanish conversación/kombeɾsaˈθjon/ #1,424
- Swedish samtal/ˈsamˌtɑːl/ a conversation #774
- Tagalog makipag-usap/makipaɡˈʔusap/ to engage in conversation with someone #822
- Tamil பேச்சு/peːtʃtʃɯ/ conversation, speech, talk #385
- Telugu సంభాషణ/ˈsanbʰaːˌʂaɳa/ conversation, discourse, talk #710
- Turkish sohbet/sohˈbet/ #1,766
- Ukrainian розмова[rɔzˈmɔʋɐ] #1,928
- Urdu بات/bɑːt̪/ talk, conversation #46
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 Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.