How to say “fault” in 37 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.
- culpa/ˈkulpa/ Spanish
- عيب/ʕajb/ Arabic
- 毛病/mɑʊ̯³⁵ piŋ⁵¹/ Chinese
- दोष/d̪oːʂ/ Hindi
- ბრალი[b̥ɾäli] Georgian
- দোষ/d̪oʃ/ Bengali
“fault” in Spanish: culpa · French: tort · German: fehler · Italian: colpa · Portuguese: culpa · Chinese: 毛病 · Arabic: عيب · Hindi: दोष
It is commonest in Malayalam, where കുറ്റം is the 286th most used word.
Fault in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans skuld/skœlt/ guilt, fault #273
- Albanian gabim/ɡabim/ mistake, error, fault #337
- Arabic عيب/ʕajb/ fault, defect, deficiency, failing #2,439
- Basque erru/eru/ fault, blame #1,540
- Bengali দোষ/d̪oʃ/ #383
- Bosnian greška/ˈɡrɛʃkɐ/ #777
- Catalan culpa[ˈkul.pə] fault, blame #465
- Chinese 毛病/mɑʊ̯³⁵ piŋ⁵¹/ fault; defect; breakdown; trouble; mishap #964
- Croatian greška/ˈɡrɛʃkɐ/ #1,002
- Czech chyba[ˈxɪba] #627
- Estonian viga/ˈviɡ̊ɑ/ mistake, error, fault #236
- French tort/tɔʁ/ #1,071
- Georgian ბრალი[b̥ɾäli] #967
- German fehler/ˈfeːlɐ/ fault, error, mistake #632
- Greek φταίω[ˈfteo] to be to blame, be at fault, be in the wrong #1,350
- Hebrew אשמה/aʃˈma/ blame; fault #1,265
- Hindi दोष/d̪oːʂ/ #1,330
- Hungarian hiba[ˈhibɒ] mistake, error, fault #1,298
- Italian colpa/ˈkol.pa/ #382
- Latvian vaina[vāīna] fault, guilt #554
- Macedonian вина[ˈvina] guilt, fault #870
- Malayalam കുറ്റം/kurrɐm/ #286
- Persian اشتباه[ʔeʃ.t̪ʰe.bɒ́ːʰ] mistake, fault, error #211
- Polish winy/ˈvi.nɘ/ guilt, fault #1,958
- Portuguese culpa/ˈkuw.pɐ/ #519
- Romanian vina/ˈvina/ guilt, fault #443
- Russian вина[vʲɪˈna] guilt, fault; blame #738
- Serbian greška/ˈɡrɛʃkɐ/ #778
- Slovak chyba/xiba/ #397
- Spanish culpa/ˈkulpa/ #460
- Tagalog kasalanan/kasaˈlanan/ sin; guilt; fault #234
- Tamil குற்றம்/kʊrːɐm/ fault, blemish, defect, flaw, error #431
- Telugu తప్పు/t̪apːu/ an error, fault, mistake, offence #89
- Turkish hata/ha.taː/ error, fault, mistake #569
- Ukrainian вина[ʋeˈna] guilt, fault; blame #634
- Urdu دوش/d̪oːʃ/ blame, fault #765
- Vietnamese lỗi[loj˦ˀ˥] mistake, fault, error #121
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 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.