How to say “main” in 33 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 Persian, where که is the 1st most used word.
- Arabic رئيسي main, chief, principal, leading, cardinal #1,233
- Basque nagusi main, principal #328
- Bengali প্রধান main, chief, head, principal #438
- Bosnian glavni main, chief, principal #730
- Bulgarian главен main, chief #1,811
- Catalan no not, main negation marker #2
- Chinese 主要 most important; principal; main; major;… #501
- Croatian glavni main, chief, principal #743
- Czech hlavní #775
- Dutch hart heart, main muscle pumping blood through the… #482
- English dinner The main meal of the day, often eaten in the… #551
- Esperanto ĉefa chief, main, principal #1,193
- Estonian peamine chief, main, major, principal #1,447
- Finnish niiden their; used without possessive suffix in the… #563
- French plupart main part, majority #1,136
- Galician cámara namely, the main bedroom of a house #538
- Georgian მთავარი main, chief, principal, head #1,349
- Greek θέμα subject, main topic #324
- Hebrew ראשי main, principal #1,074
- Hungarian fő main, principal, key, chief, cardinal, core,… #1,701
- Italian principale main, principal #1,705
- Korean 주 main; principal #342
- Latvian galvenais main, chief, primary, key #664
- Lithuanian tai that, then; introduces a complement to the… #3
- Macedonian главен main, chief, cardinal #830
- Persian که that; subordinates a clause to a main clause #1
- Portuguese principal main; principal #1,210
- Russian главное the main thing, the essentials #1,133
- Serbian glavni main, chief, principal #745
- Slovak hlavný #930
- Spanish principal main, most important #1,243
- Tagalog bida protagonist; main character #1,693
- Urdu شاہراہ highway, main road, King's highway #1,765
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.