How to say “fine” 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 Tamil, where சரி is the 10th most used word.
- Arabic حسنا well, fine, okay, good #37
- Armenian լավ good, fine, OK #48
- Basque isun #1,822
- Bosnian fin fine, delicate #1,652
- Chinese 美好 fine; glorious; happy; good; wonderful #402
- Croatian fin fine, delicate #2,341
- Danish fin #877
- Dutch beste fine, okay #284
- English eric A fine paid as compensation for violent crimes #1,681
- Estonian hästi well, good, fine, all right #75
- Finnish hienoa #248
- French belle handsome, fine, attractive #398
- Georgian მშვენივრად fine, beautifully, very well #860
- Greek ωραίο good, fine, nice #418
- Hebrew טובה good, fair, fine #153
- Hindi अच्छी good, nice, fine #199
- Hungarian jól well, fine #39
- Icelandic fínt fine, nice #266
- Italian bella nice, fair, fine, pleasant; beautiful #295
- Korean 예술 art; fine art #2,372
- Latvian foršs cool, good, fine, great, attractive #1,984
- Lithuanian bauda fine, fee, monetary penalty #2,487
- Macedonian добро well, alright, fine, okay #25
- Malay elok good, fine, excellent #1,213
- Malayalam പിഴ fine, penalty #1,487
- Norwegian fint #228
- Persian میده fine wheat flour; sifted flour #447
- Russian хороший good, nice, fine #454
- Serbian fin fine, delicate #1,595
- Slovenian fin fine, refined, high-class #1,952
- Tagalog mainam alright; fine; good #2,294
- Tamil சரி fine, okay, OK, yes #10
- Telugu సరే fine, okay, OK #35
- Turkish iyi well, fine, decently #27
- Ukrainian гаразд well, fine, appropriately, properly #77
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.