How to say “guard” in 41 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 Afrikaans, where wag is the 103rd most used word.
- Afrikaans wag #103
- Albanian ruaj to watch over, to observe, to guard #1,159
- Arabic انتبه to be careful, to be on one's guard, to think… #1,004
- Armenian պահապան guard, keeper, protector, sentinel, watchman #851
- Bengali প্রহরী guard, watchman #1,452
- Bosnian čuva to guard, protect #1,912
- Bulgarian пазя to guard, to protect #1,452
- Chinese 保守 to keep; to guard #1,433
- Croatian čuvati to guard, protect #1,661
- Czech hlídat to watch, to guard #2,249
- Danish vagt guard, watch #1,177
- Dutch bewakers #2,338
- English aware Vigilant or on one's guard against danger or… #1,614
- Esperanto gardisto a guard #2,051
- Estonian valve guard, watch #1,793
- French gardes a watch, guard #1,590
- Galician garda guard, watchman, escort #470
- German beschützen to protect, to guard, to defend #1,143
- Hebrew שמר to guard #1,315
- Hungarian védeni to protect, guard #2,199
- Icelandic verja to defend, guard, protect #817
- Indonesian jaga to watch over, to keep, to guard #687
- Italian guardia #1,083
- Korean 경비원 watchman, guard, security guard #2,479
- Latvian sargi to protect, to guard #1,579
- Macedonian стража guard, watch #1,117
- Malay kawalan guard, protection #617
- Malayalam കാവൽ guard, safety #1,313
- Norwegian vaktene a guard #2,068
- Persian نگهبان guard, watchman #831
- Portuguese guardas #1,842
- Romanian pază #2,274
- Russian защитить to defend, to guard, to protect #1,109
- Serbian čuva to guard, protect #1,761
- Slovak strážiť to guard #1,494
- Swedish vakt a guard #1,921
- Tagalog bantay guard; escort; watch #670
- Tamil பாதுகாப்பு protection, guard, watch #160
- Turkish boş unprepared, off guard #402
- Urdu محافظ protector; guard #1,316
- Vietnamese thủ to guard; to keep #423
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.