How to say “like” in 53 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.
- كما/kamaː/ Arabic
- जैसे/d͡ʒɛː.seː/ Hindi
- כמו/kmo/ Hebrew
- նման/nəˈmɑn/ Armenian
- মত/mɔt̪/ Bengali
- പോലെ/poːle/ Malayalam
“like” in French: genre · German: möchte · Arabic: كما · Hindi: जैसे · Turkish: gibi
It is commonest in Turkish, where gibi is the 23rd most used word.
Like in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans so/sʊə̯/ so, like that/this, thus #25
- Albanian siç[sitʃ] like, as #244
- Arabic كما/kamaː/ like, as #70
- Armenian նման/nəˈmɑn/ like, as, such as #93
- Basque bezala/bes̻ala/ as, like #48
- Bengali মত/mɔt̪/ like, similar to, resembling #78
- Bosnian kao/kâo/ as, like #36
- Bulgarian като[kɐˈtɔ] like, as #35
- Catalan agrada/əˈɣɾaðə/ to like #227
- Chinese 想要/ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ jɑʊ̯⁵¹/ would like; want; wish to have #38
- Croatian kao/kâo/ as, like #37
- Czech vypadá[ˈvɪpadaː] to appear, look like, seem #222
- Danish som/sɔm/ as, like #36
- Dutch zo/zoː/ so, thus, like that/this #39
- English enough/ɪˈnʌf/ Used before a noun in the manner of words… #218
- Esperanto ŝatas/ˈʃatas/ to like, appreciate #179
- Estonian kui/ˈkui̯/ as, like #9
- Finnish niin/ˈniːn/ like that, in that way, so #12
- French genre/ʒɑ̃ʁ/ like, kind of #317
- Galician igual/iˈɡwal/ in the same way; just like #336
- Georgian ასე[äse̞] so, like this, like so, thus #40
- German möchte/ˈmœç.tʰə/ to like #207
- Greek έτσι/ˈetsi/ thus; like this; like that #56
- Hebrew כמו/kmo/ like, as #44
- Hindi जैसे/d͡ʒɛː.seː/ like, as; in the manner #216
- Hungarian így[ˈiːɟ] thus, in this way, like this #49
- Icelandic sem[sɛm] as, like #8
- Indonesian seperti/səpərˈti/ Like; as though, similar to #33
- Italian tipo/ˈti.po/ indicating approximation or uncertainty;… #222
- Korean 그래[kɯɾɛ] like this, like that #11
- Latvian patīk/ˈpatiːk/ to like #131
- Lithuanian patinka[pɐ²ˈtʲɪŋˑkɐ] to appeal, like #140
- Macedonian личи[ˈlit͡ʃi] to resemble, look like #708
- Malay seperti/səpə(r)ˈti/ like, similar to #46
- Malayalam പോലെ/poːle/ #31
- Norwegian liker/ˈliːkər/ to like #149
- Persian مثل[mesl̥] #48
- Polish tak/ˈtak/ like this; so #12
- Portuguese assim/aˈsĩ/ this way; like this #96
- Romanian astfel/ˈastfel/ thus, in this way, so, like that #465
- Russian так[tak] like that, like this #19
- Serbian kao/kâo/ as, like #36
- Slovak rád/raːt/ like to #115
- Slovenian kot/kɔt/ as, like #25
- Spanish así/aˈsi/ like this; like that; as such; thus; so;… #46
- Swedish så/soː/ so, like that, in such a way #23
- Tagalog gusto/ɡusˈto/ want; like; desire #30
- Tamil அப்படி/ɐpːɐɖiː/ in that way, like that, thus, so #135
- Telugu వంటి/ˈʋanʈi/ like, similar to #44
- Turkish gibi/ɡiˈbi/ like, similar to #23
- Ukrainian ніби[ˈnʲibe] as if, as though, as, like #413
- Urdu سا/sɑː/ like, as #190
- Vietnamese thế[tʰe˧˦] thus; so; like that #35
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.