How to say “duty” in 35 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 Dutch, where wachten is the 331st most used word.
- Albanian detyrë duty, task, assignment #901
- Bengali কর্তব্য duty; obligation; that which ought to be done #1,049
- Bosnian dužnost #1,438
- Catalan deure duty, obligation #1,439
- Chinese 上班 to be on duty; to go to work; to begin one's… #425
- Croatian dužnost #1,378
- Czech povinnost #2,233
- Danish tjeneste duty, service #695
- Dutch wachten the function, duty of standing guard; a watch… #331
- English office A ceremonial duty or service, particularly #486
- Esperanto devo #1,465
- French devoir #554
- Galician obriga obligation, duty; commitment #2,074
- German aufgabe duty, responsibility, mission, function,… #1,360
- Greek καθήκον #1,557
- Hindi कर्तव्य duty, role, obligation #1,839
- Icelandic skylda obligation, duty #1,446
- Indonesian hakim a public official whose duty it is to… #1,140
- Korean 임무 duty; task; mission #926
- Latvian uzdevums task, duty #1,010
- Lithuanian pareiga duty, obligation #1,360
- Macedonian должност #1,130
- Malay tugas #454
- Malayalam ചുമതല responsibility; duty #848
- Norwegian plikt a duty #1,982
- Persian عهده responsibility, charge, duty #995
- Serbian dužnost #1,371
- Slovak povinnosť #1,150
- Swedish plikt #2,316
- Tagalog tungkulin duty; responsibility; obligation #795
- Tamil கடமை responsibility, duty, obligation #970
- Telugu విధి #638
- Turkish görev task, duty #828
- Urdu عہدہ post, rank, duty, office #2,315
- Vietnamese trực to be on continuous duty doing tasks on demand #924
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.