How to say “cry” in 45 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.
- llorar/ʝoˈɾaɾ/ Spanish
- रोते/ɾoː.t̪eː/ Hindi
- κλαις/ˈkles/ Greek
- ყვირილი[χʼʷiɾili] Georgian
- কান্না/kanːa/ Bengali
- அழு/ɐɻɯ/ Tamil
“cry” in Spanish: llorar · French: pleurer · Portuguese: chorar · Hindi: रोते · Turkish: ağlama · Greek: κλαις
It is commonest in Georgian, where ყვირილი is the 74th most used word.
Cry in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans huil/ˈhøyl/ to cry; to weep #351
- Albanian qaj[caj] to cry, weep, shed tears #1,203
- Arabic نحب/naħaba/ to lament, to weep, to cry #1,338
- Armenian ճիչ/t͡ʃit͡ʃʰ/ screech, scream, cry #1,324
- Bengali কান্না/kanːa/ cry, crying, weep, sob, lament #899
- Bosnian plakati/plǎːkati/ to cry, weep #2,253
- Bulgarian вик[vik] cry, shout #2,131
- Catalan plorar[pluˈɾa] to cry, to weep #1,530
- Chinese 呼叫/xu⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/ to call; to shout; to cry out #654
- Croatian plakati/plǎːkati/ to cry, weep #1,907
- Danish græde/ˈɡraːðə/ cry, weep #1,588
- Dutch huilen/ˈɦœy̯lə(n)/ to cry, to weep #1,274
- English screaming/ˈskɹiːmɪŋ/ To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a… #917
- Esperanto krias/ˈkrias/ to cry, shout, yell #1,235
- Estonian nutma/ˈnutmɑ/ to cry #1,542
- French pleurer/plœ.ʁe/ to cry, to weep; to shed tears #1,461
- Galician chorar/t͡ʃoˈɾaɾ/ to cry, weep #1,127
- Georgian ყვირილი[χʼʷiɾili] cry, shout, yell #74
- German ruf/ʁuːf/ to call out, to shout, to cry #653
- Greek κλαις/ˈkles/ to cry, weep #2,029
- Hebrew הצילו/haˈt͡silu/ Help: cry of distress or an urgent request… #759
- Hindi रोते/ɾoː.t̪eː/ to cry, weep #1,138
- Icelandic gráta[ˈkrauːta] to cry #764
- Indonesian menangis/məˈna.ŋis/ to cry #547
- Italian piangere/ˈpjan.d͡ʒe.re/ to weep, cry #1,350
- Latvian sauc/sauts/ to call, to cry #183
- Lithuanian verkti/ˈvʲɛ͡rk.tʲɪ/ cry, weep #1,613
- Macedonian викнам[ˈviknam] to cry, shout #1,467
- Malay menangis/məˈnaŋes/ To cry #556
- Malayalam നിലവിളി/nilɐʋiɭi/ loud scream or cry #1,153
- Norwegian gråt/ˈɡroːt/ to cry or weep #1,541
- Persian گریه[ɡʲeɹ.jé] cry, sob #1,391
- Portuguese chorar/ʃoˈɾa(ʁ)/ to cry; to weep #1,164
- Romanian plânge/ˈplɨn.d͡ʒe/ to cry, weep #1,425
- Serbian plače/ˈplatʃɛ/ to cry, weep #2,165
- Slovak plakať/plakac/ to weep, to cry #986
- Slovenian jokati/jòːkati/ to cry #1,040
- Spanish llorar/ʝoˈɾaɾ/ to cry, to weep #1,546
- Swedish gråta/ˈɡroːˌta/ to cry, to weep #1,667
- Tagalog umiyak/ʔumiˈak/ to cry; to weep #1,111
- Tamil அழு/ɐɻɯ/ to cry, to weep #1,425
- Telugu కేక/ˈkeːka/ a loud cry #799
- Turkish ağlama/aː.ɫaˈma/ to cry, bewail, wail, weep #2,118
- Urdu رونا/ɾoː.nɑː/ to cry, weep #986
- Vietnamese la[laː˧˧] to cry, to shout #731
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.