How to say “general” in 47 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.
- جنرال/d͡ʒiniraːl/ Arabic
- 대장[ˈtɛ(ː)d͡ʑa̠ŋ] Korean
- στρατηγέ/ˌstratiˈje/ Greek
- ജനറൽ/d͡ʒɐnɐrɐl/ Malayalam
“general” in French: général · Italian: generale · Korean: 대장 · Arabic: جنرال · Turkish: general · Greek: στρατηγέ
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where generaal is the 399th most used word.
General in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans generaal/xənəˈrɑːl/ general, general officer #399
- Albanian gjeneral/ɟɛnɛɾal/ #860
- Arabic جنرال/d͡ʒiniraːl/ #1,402
- Armenian ընդհանուր/əntʰɑˈnuɾ/ generally, in general #982
- Basque orokor/oɾokor/ general, universal #2,045
- Bengali সাধারণ/ʃad̪ʱaɾon/ common, general, ordinary #413
- Bosnian uopšte/ǔopʃte/ generally, in general #589
- Bulgarian изобщо[izˈɔpʃto] generally, in general #469
- Catalan general[ʒə.nəˈɾal] #587
- Chinese 一般/i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ pän⁵⁵/ usually; in general; generally #366
- Croatian uopće/ǔopt͡ɕe/ generally, in general #394
- Czech generál[ˈɡɛnɛraːl] #2,028
- Danish general/ɡenəˈʁɑːˀl/ #936
- Dutch generaal/ˈɣeː.nə.raːl/ #922
- English at/æt/ In, near, or in the general vicinity of #53
- Esperanto generalo/ɡeneˈralo/ #1,360
- Estonian üldse/ˈyld̥se/ generally, in general #283
- Finnish kenraali/ˈkenrɑːli/ #1,113
- French général/ʒe.ne.ʁal/ #722
- Galician xeral/ʃeˈɾal/ #757
- German hallo/ˈhalo/ a general greeting used when meeting someone #162
- Greek στρατηγέ/ˌstratiˈje/ general, an army rank with the NATO grade OF-9 #1,744
- Hebrew בכלל/biˈχlal/ in general #238
- Hindi सामान्य/sɑːmɑːnjə/ common, general #689
- Hungarian általában[ˈaːltɒlaːbɒn] in general, generally, usually #905
- Icelandic yfirleitt/ˈɪːvɪrleiht/ in general, generally #821
- Indonesian jenderal/d͡ʒendəˈral/ #1,073
- Italian generale/d͡ʒe.neˈra.le/ #851
- Korean 대장[ˈtɛ(ː)d͡ʑa̠ŋ] general; admiral #843
- Latvian ģenerālis/ˈɟeneraːlis/ #2,346
- Lithuanian generolas[ɡʲɛnʲɛ²ˈroːlɐs] #1,059
- Macedonian воопшто[ˈvɔɔpʃtɔ] in general, generally #348
- Malay tanah/ˈtanah/ a general term for the surface of the Earth;… #390
- Malayalam ജനറൽ/d͡ʒɐnɐrɐl/ #914
- Norwegian general/ɡənəˈrɑːl/ a general #876
- Persian فرمانده[fæɹ.mɒːn̪.d̪eʱ] commander, general #532
- Romanian general/d͡ʒe.neˈral/ #937
- Russian вообще[vɐɐpˈɕːe] generally, in general, usually #311
- Serbian uopšte/ǔopʃte/ generally, in general #416
- Slovenian general/ɡɛnɛráːl/ #413
- Spanish gusta/ˈɡusta/ to like in a general sense #206
- Swedish man/man/ people in general; one, you, they, people, etc #55
- Tamil பொது/pod̪ɯ/ common, general, usual #1,464
- Turkish general/ɟe.neˈɾal/ #824
- Ukrainian взагалі[wzɐɦɐˈlʲi] generally, in general, on the whole #350
- Urdu جنرل/d͡ʒən.ɾəl/ #828
- Vietnamese chung[t͡ɕʊwŋ͡m˧˧] general; common; public #742
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), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), 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.