How to say “like” in 53 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 Icelandic, where sem is the 8th most used word.
- Afrikaans so so, like that/this, thus #25
- Albanian siç like, as #244
- Arabic كما like, as #70
- Armenian նման like, as, such as #93
- Basque bezala as, like #48
- Bengali মত like, similar to, resembling #78
- Bosnian kao as, like #36
- Bulgarian като like, as #35
- Catalan agrada to like #227
- Chinese 想要 would like; want; wish to have #38
- Croatian kao as, like #37
- Czech vypadá to appear, look like, seem #222
- Danish som as, like #36
- Dutch zo so, thus, like that/this #39
- English enough Used before a noun in the manner of words… #218
- Esperanto ŝatas to like, appreciate #179
- Estonian kui as, like #9
- Finnish niin like that, in that way, so #12
- French genre like, kind of #317
- Galician igual in the same way; just like #336
- Georgian ასე so, like this, like so, thus #40
- German möchte to like #207
- Greek έτσι thus; like this; like that #56
- Hebrew כמו like, as #44
- Hindi जैसे like, as; in the manner #216
- Hungarian így thus, in this way, like this #49
- Icelandic sem as, like #8
- Indonesian seperti Like; as though, similar to #33
- Italian tipo indicating approximation or uncertainty;… #222
- Korean 그래 like this, like that #11
- Latvian patīk to like #131
- Lithuanian patinka to appeal, like #140
- Macedonian личи to resemble, look like #708
- Malay seperti like, similar to #46
- Malayalam പോലെ #31
- Norwegian liker to like #149
- Persian مثل #48
- Polish tak like this; so #12
- Portuguese assim this way; like this #96
- Romanian astfel thus, in this way, so, like that #465
- Russian так like that, like this #19
- Serbian kao as, like #36
- Slovak rád like to #115
- Slovenian kot as, like #25
- Spanish así like this; like that; as such; thus; so;… #46
- Swedish så so, like that, in such a way #23
- Tagalog gusto want; like; desire #30
- Tamil அப்படி in that way, like that, thus, so #135
- Telugu వంటి like, similar to #44
- Turkish gibi like, similar to #23
- Ukrainian ніби as if, as though, as, like #413
- Urdu سا like, as #190
- Vietnamese thế thus; so; like that #35
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.