How to say “instead” 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 Serbian, where sa is the 19th most used word.
- Arabic بدلا #900
- Armenian փոխարեն instead of #457
- Bengali বদলে in exchange, instead of #390
- Bosnian sa alternative form of s; used instead of s when… #20
- Bulgarian вместо instead of #545
- Chinese 相反 on the contrary; to the contrary; instead #1,007
- Croatian sa alternative form of s; used instead of s when… #35
- Czech místo instead of, in lieu of #216
- Esperanto anstataŭ instead of #644
- Finnish sijaan instead of #1,343
- French plutôt rather, instead #410
- Georgian ნაცვლად instead of #1,179
- German statt instead of #1,331
- Greek αντί instead of, in lieu of #867
- Hebrew במקום Instead of, in lieu of, in place of #259
- Hindi बजाय instead, alternatively #1,006
- Hungarian helyett instead of, in lieu of, in place of, rather… #1,295
- Icelandic heldur but, instead #112
- Indonesian malah rather, instead #1,062
- Italian invece instead, but, whereas, on the contrary #389
- Korean 대신 #287
- Latvian nē used instead of a negative verb form; no,… #24
- Lithuanian vietoj instead of #469
- Macedonian место instead of #129
- Malay pula instead; on the other hand; however #349
- Malayalam പകരം instead of #172
- Norwegian istedenfor instead of, in lieu of #2,432
- Polish miasto instead of #798
- Russian вместо instead of #825
- Serbian sa alternative form of s; used instead of s when… #19
- Slovak miesto instead of #158
- Swedish istället #852
- Turkish yerine in lieu of, instead of #306
- Ukrainian замість instead of, in place of #980
- Urdu بجائے instead, alternatively #1,005
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.