How to say “duty” in 35 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.
- 임무[ˈi(ː)mmu] Korean
- कर्तव्य/kəɾt̪əʋjə/ Hindi
- καθήκον/kaˈθikon/ Greek
- কর্তব্য/kɔrt̪obbo/ Bengali
- విధి/ʋid̪ʱi/ Telugu
“duty” in French: devoir · German: aufgabe · Korean: 임무 · Hindi: कर्तव्य · Greek: καθήκον
It is commonest in Malay, where tugas is the 454th most used word.
Duty in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian detyrë/dɛtyɾə/ duty, task, assignment #901
- Bengali কর্তব্য/kɔrt̪obbo/ duty; obligation; that which ought to be done #1,049
- Bosnian dužnost/dǔːʒnoːst/ #1,438
- Catalan deure[ˈdɛw.ɾə] duty, obligation #1,439
- Chinese 上班/ʂɑŋ⁵¹ pän⁵⁵/ to be on duty; to go to work; to begin one's… #425
- Croatian dužnost/dǔːʒnoːst/ #1,378
- Czech povinnost[ˈpovɪnost] #2,233
- Danish tjeneste[ˈtɕɛːnəsd̥ə] duty, service #695
- Dutch wachten/ˈʋɑxtə(n)/ the function, duty of standing guard; a watch… #331
- English office/ˈɑ-/ A ceremonial duty or service, particularly #486
- Esperanto devo/ˈdevo/ #1,465
- French devoir/də.vwaʁ/ #554
- Galician obriga[oˈβɾiɣɐ] obligation, duty; commitment #2,074
- German aufgabe/ˈaʊ̯fˌɡaːbə/ duty, responsibility, mission, function,… #1,360
- Greek καθήκον/kaˈθikon/ #1,557
- Hindi कर्तव्य/kəɾt̪əʋjə/ duty, role, obligation #1,839
- Icelandic skylda[ˈscɪlta] obligation, duty #1,446
- Indonesian hakim/ˈhakɪm/ a public official whose duty it is to… #1,140
- Korean 임무[ˈi(ː)mmu] duty; task; mission #926
- Latvian uzdevums[uzdɛvums] task, duty #1,010
- Lithuanian pareiga/pɐrɛɪˈɡɐ/ duty, obligation #1,360
- Macedonian должност[ˈdɔɫʒnɔst] #1,130
- Malay tugas/ˈtuɡas/ #454
- Malayalam ചുമതല/t͡ʃumɐd̪ɐlɐ/ responsibility; duty #848
- Norwegian plikt/ˈplɪkt/ a duty #1,982
- Persian عهده[ʔoɦ.d̪é] responsibility, charge, duty #995
- Serbian dužnost/dǔːʒnoːst/ #1,371
- Slovak povinnosť/pɔvinːɔsc/ #1,150
- Swedish plikt/plɪkt/ #2,316
- Tagalog tungkulin/tuŋˈkulin/ duty; responsibility; obligation #795
- Tamil கடமை/kɐɖɐmɐɪ̯/ responsibility, duty, obligation #970
- Telugu విధి/ʋid̪ʱi/ #638
- Turkish görev/ɟøˈɾev/ task, duty #828
- Urdu عہدہ/ʊɦ.d̪ɑː/ post, rank, duty, office #2,315
- Vietnamese trực[t͡ɕɨk̚˧˨ʔ] to be on continuous duty doing tasks on demand #924
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.