How to say “difficult” in 38 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.
- difícil/diˈfiθil/ Spanish
- मुश्किल/mʊʃ.kɪl/ Hindi
- δύσκολο/ˈðiskoˌlo/ Greek
- مشکل[moʃ.kʰʲél̥] Persian
“difficult” in Spanish: difícil · French: difficile · German: schwierig · Italian: difficile · Portuguese: difícil · Hindi: मुश्किल · Greek: δύσκολο
It is commonest in Persian, where مشکل is the 214th most used word.
Difficult in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans lastig/ˈlas.təx/ difficult, tough #1,222
- Albanian vështirë/vəʃˈtiɹə/ #255
- Arabic صعب/sˤa.ʕu.ba/ to be hard, difficult #393
- Basque zail/s̻ai̯l/ #1,304
- Bengali কঠিন/koʈʰin/ hard, difficult #287
- Bosnian sranje/srǎːɲe/ A very difficult situation, big trouble #213
- Bulgarian труден[ˈtrudɛn] difficult, hard #1,897
- Catalan difícil[diˈfi.sil] #503
- Chinese 好不容易/xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ ɻʊŋ³⁵ i⁵¹/ very difficult #2,035
- Croatian sranje/srǎːɲe/ A very difficult situation, big trouble #256
- Danish svært/ˈsvɛɐ̯ˀd/ difficult, hard, stiff, tough #395
- Dutch lastig/ˈlɑs.təx/ tough, difficult #1,001
- English complicated/ˈkɒm.plɪ.keɪ.tɪd/ Difficult or convoluted #1,939
- Finnish vaikea/ˈʋɑi̯keɑ/ difficult, hard #596
- French difficile/di.fi.sil/ #557
- Galician difícil/diˈfiθil/ #407
- Georgian რთული[ɾtʰuli] complicated, complex, difficult, arduous,… #903
- German schwierig/ˈʃviːrɪç/ difficult, hard, challenging, tough #1,446
- Greek δύσκολο/ˈðiskoˌlo/ difficult, hard, tough, arduous #429
- Hebrew מבלבל/mvalˈbel/ Confusing: difficult to understand #2,307
- Hindi मुश्किल/mʊʃ.kɪl/ difficult, hard #394
- Hungarian nehéz[ˈnɛɦeːz] #276
- Indonesian sulit/ˈsulɪt̚/ hard, difficult #323
- Italian difficile/difˈfi.t͡ʃi.le/ difficult, hard #453
- Latvian grūti/ˈɡruːti/ difficult, tough, difficultly, with… #353
- Malay sukar/ˈsukar/ #403
- Norwegian vanskelig/ˈvɑnskəlɪ/ #373
- Persian مشکل[moʃ.kʰʲél̥] #214
- Polish trudne/ˈtrud.nɛ/ #1,066
- Portuguese difícil/d͡ʒiˈfi.siw/ difficult, hard, unlikely #368
- Romanian dificil/di.fiˈt͡ʃil/ #1,181
- Serbian sranje/srǎːɲe/ A very difficult situation, big trouble #259
- Spanish difícil/diˈfiθil/ difficult, hard, tough, challenging, rough,… #403
- Swedish jobbigt/ˈjɔbɪkt/ onerous, arduous, difficult, tiring,… #1,626
- Tagalog mahirap/maˈhiɾap/ difficult; tough #368
- Turkish zor/ˈzoɾ/ hard, difficult #230
- Urdu مشکل/mʊʃ.kɪl/ #339
- Vietnamese khó[xɔ˧˦] difficult; tough #354
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) 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.