How to say “game” in 45 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 Telugu, where ఆట is the 220th most used word.
- Afrikaans spel game, play #452
- Armenian խաղ game, play #391
- Basque joko #381
- Bosnian utakmicu sports game #1,808
- Bulgarian игра play, game #549
- Catalan joc #586
- Chinese 打球 to play a ball game #1,852
- Croatian utakmicu sports game #1,981
- Czech hra play, game #952
- Danish spil A game #589
- Dutch spelen #435
- English player One who plays any game or sport #1,970
- Esperanto ludo #603
- Estonian mäng #708
- Finnish peli #1,388
- French jeu #486
- Galician xogos #2,188
- Georgian თამაში #1,011
- Hebrew משחק a game #371
- Hungarian parti a game of #2,078
- Icelandic spil #1,432
- Indonesian permainan #514
- Italian gioco to play a game, for fun or as a pastime #570
- Korean 게임 game, especially computer games #574
- Macedonian игра #316
- Malay permainan #424
- Malayalam കളി #227
- Norwegian spillet a game; equipment for a game #1,365
- Persian بازی #374
- Polish zabawy fun, amusement; game #1,634
- Portuguese brincadeira game, play #2,327
- Romanian jocul game, play #976
- Russian игра #1,009
- Serbian utakmicu sports game #1,815
- Slovak hra play, game #539
- Slovenian as An ace; in a game of cards #1,613
- Spanish dispuesto willing, ready, game, down #1,977
- Swedish spelar to play; a game, a tune, a melody, an… #375
- Tagalog laro game; play #1,859
- Tamil விளையாட்டு game, sport, recreation, pastime #264
- Telugu ఆట play, sport, game #220
- Turkish oyunu game, amusement, entertainment #923
- Ukrainian гра game, play #1,077
- Urdu کھیل game, sport; fun #336
- Vietnamese bài card, playing card, card game #439
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.