How to say “instead” in 35 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.
- بدلا/badalan/ Arabic
- 相反/ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ fän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ Chinese
- 대신[ˈtɛ(ː)ɕʰin] Korean
- बजाय/bə.d͡ʒɑːj/ Hindi
“instead” in Italian: invece · Chinese: 相反 · Korean: 대신 · Arabic: بدلا · Hindi: बजाय
It is commonest in Korean, where 대신 is the 287th most used word.
Instead in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic بدلا/badalan/ #900
- Armenian փոխարեն/pʰoχɑˈɾen/ instead of #457
- Bengali বদলে/bɔd̪ole/ in exchange, instead of #390
- Bosnian sa/ˈsa/ alternative form of s; used instead of s when… #20
- Bulgarian вместо[ˈvmɛsto] instead of #545
- Chinese 相反/ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ fän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ on the contrary; to the contrary; instead #1,007
- Croatian sa/ˈsa/ alternative form of s; used instead of s when… #35
- Czech místo[ˈmiːsto] instead of, in lieu of #216
- Esperanto anstataŭ/ansˈtatau̯/ instead of #644
- Finnish sijaan/ˈsijɑːn/ instead of #1,343
- French plutôt/ply.to/ rather, instead #410
- Georgian ნაცვლად[nät͡sʰʷɫätʰ] instead of #1,179
- German statt/ʃtat/ instead of #1,331
- Greek αντί/aˈdi/ instead of, in lieu of #867
- Hebrew במקום/bimˈkom/ Instead of, in lieu of, in place of #259
- Hindi बजाय/bə.d͡ʒɑːj/ instead, alternatively #1,006
- Hungarian helyett[ˈhɛjɛtː] instead of, in lieu of, in place of, rather… #1,295
- Icelandic heldur[ˈhɛltʏr] but, instead #112
- Indonesian malah/ˈmalah/ rather, instead #1,062
- Italian invece/inˈve.t͡ʃe/ instead, but, whereas, on the contrary #389
- Korean 대신[ˈtɛ(ː)ɕʰin] #287
- Latvian nē/ˈneː/ used instead of a negative verb form; no,… #24
- Lithuanian vietoj[ˈvʲiə.toj] instead of #469
- Macedonian место[ˈmɛstɔ] instead of #129
- Malay pula/ˈpulə/ instead; on the other hand; however #349
- Malayalam പകരം/pɐɡɐɾɐm/ instead of #172
- Norwegian istedenfor/ɪˈsteːdn̩ˌfɔr/ instead of, in lieu of #2,432
- Polish miasto/ˈmjas.tɔ/ instead of #798
- Russian вместо[ˈvmʲestə] instead of #825
- Serbian sa/ˈsa/ alternative form of s; used instead of s when… #19
- Slovak miesto/ˈmi̯ɛstɔ/ instead of #158
- Swedish istället/ˈɪstɛlɛt/ #852
- Turkish yerine/jeɾiˈne/ in lieu of, instead of #306
- Ukrainian замість[ˈzamʲisʲtʲ] instead of, in place of #980
- Urdu بجائے/bə.d͡ʒɑː.eː/ instead, alternatively #1,005
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).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.