How to say “laugh” in 32 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.
- हँस/ɦə̃s/ Hindi
- నవ్వు/naʋːu/ Telugu
- сміх[sʲmʲix] Ukrainian
- ہنسنا/ɦə̃s.nɑː/ Urdu
“laugh” in French: rire · German: lacht · Italian: ridere · Portuguese: rio · Hindi: हँस
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where lag is the 284th most used word.
Laugh in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans lag/ɫɐχ/ to laugh #284
- Albanian qeshur/cɛʃuɾ/ to laugh #701
- Catalan riu[ˈriw] to laugh #827
- Chinese 嘲笑/ʈ͡ʂʰɑʊ̯³⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/ to laugh at; to deride; to jeer; to mock; to… #1,048
- Croatian smijeh/ˈsmijeh/ laugh, laughter #1,321
- Czech smát[ˈsmaːt] to laugh #2,476
- Danish grin/ɡriːn/ to laugh #1,383
- Dutch lachen/ˈlɑxə(n)/ to laugh #974
- English chuckles/ˈtʃʌkəlz/ A quiet laugh #613
- Esperanto ridas/ˈridas/ to laugh #1,752
- Estonian naerma/ˈnɑe̯rmɑ/ to laugh #1,636
- French rire/ʁiʁ/ to laugh #1,010
- Galician río/ˈrio/ to laugh #724
- German lacht[laxt] to laugh #824
- Hindi हँस/ɦə̃s/ to laugh, chuckle #1,874
- Icelandic hlæja[ˈl̥aija] to laugh #889
- Indonesian tertawa/tərˈtawa/ to laugh #689
- Italian ridere/ˈri.de.re/ to laugh #1,483
- Lithuanian juoktis/ˈjuɔ̌.kʲtʲɪs/ to laugh #1,835
- Malay ketawa/kəˈtawə/ to laugh; to chuckle #807
- Norwegian ler/leːr/ to laugh #1,442
- Persian خنده[xæn̪.d̪é] laughing; a laugh; laughter #519
- Portuguese rio/ˈʁi.u/ to laugh #1,175
- Romanian râs/ˈrɨs/ to laugh #1,535
- Slovak smiať/smɪ̯ac/ to laugh #1,252
- Slovenian smeh/sméːx/ laugh, laughter #674
- Swedish skratta/ˈskrɑːtːa/ to laugh #1,615
- Tagalog tawanan/taˈwanan/ to laugh at something or someone #1,118
- Telugu నవ్వు/naʋːu/ a laugh, laughter #343
- Ukrainian сміх[sʲmʲix] laugh, laughter #2,003
- Urdu ہنسنا/ɦə̃s.nɑː/ to laugh #2,213
- Vietnamese nhạo[ɲaːw˧˨ʔ] to laugh at, to mock, to jeer at #2,240
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 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.