How to say “maybe” in 45 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.
- пожалуй[pɐˈʐaɫʊj] Russian
- 可能/kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ nɤŋ³⁵/ Chinese
- शायद/ʃɑː.jəd̪/ Hindi
- אולי/uˈlaj/ Hebrew
- იქნებ[ikʰne̞pʰ] Georgian
- գուցե/ɡuˈt͡sʰe/ Armenian
“maybe” in French: peut-être · Italian: forse · Chinese: 可能 · Russian: пожалуй · Hindi: शायद · Turkish: belki
It is commonest in Chinese, where 可能 is the 13th most used word.
Maybe in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans miskien/məsˈkin/ #135
- Albanian ndoshta[ndoʃta] maybe, perhaps #104
- Arabic ربما/rub.ba.maː/ perhaps, maybe #56
- Armenian գուցե/ɡuˈt͡sʰe/ maybe, perhaps #117
- Basque agian/aɡian/ maybe, perhaps #121
- Bengali হয়তো/hɔe̯t̪o/ perhaps, possibly, maybe #761
- Bosnian možda/mǒʒda/ perhaps, maybe #70
- Catalan potser[putˈse] maybe, perhaps #105
- Chinese 可能/kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ nɤŋ³⁵/ maybe; perhaps; probably; might; may #13
- Croatian možda/mǒʒda/ perhaps, maybe #61
- Czech možná[ˈmoʒnaː] maybe, perhaps #88
- Danish måske/mɔskeː/ perhaps, possibly, maybe #88
- Dutch misschien/mɪˈsxin/ perhaps, maybe #100
- Estonian võib-olla/vˈɤi̯b̥ˈolːɑ/ maybe, perhaps #260
- Finnish ehkä/ˈehkæ/ perhaps, maybe #63
- French peut-être/pø.t‿ɛtʁ/ maybe, perhaps #129
- Galician quizais[kiˈθajs] perhaps, maybe #425
- Georgian იქნებ[ikʰne̞pʰ] #227
- German vielleicht/fiˈlaɪ̯çt/ perhaps, maybe #108
- Greek ίσως/ˈisos/ might, may, perhaps, maybe #97
- Hebrew אולי/uˈlaj/ #63
- Hindi शायद/ʃɑː.jəd̪/ maybe, perhaps #179
- Hungarian talán[ˈtɒlaːn] maybe, perhaps #62
- Icelandic kannski/ˈkʰanscɪ/ maybe, perhaps #74
- Indonesian mungkin/ˈmuŋkin/ maybe, perhaps, possibly, probably #51
- Italian forse/ˈfor.se/ maybe, perhaps, possibly, may, might #126
- Korean 아마[a̠ma̠] perhaps, maybe #160
- Lithuanian gal[¹ˈɡɑˑl] maybe, perhaps #57
- Macedonian можеби[ˈmɔʒɛbi] maybe, perhaps #78
- Malay mungkin/ˈmuŋken/ Maybe, perhaps, possibly #56
- Norwegian kanskje/²kɑn.ʃə/ perhaps; maybe #97
- Persian شاید[ʃɒ́ː.jæd̪̥] maybe; perhaps; probably #222
- Polish może/ˈmɔ.ʐɛ/ maybe, perhaps #29
- Portuguese talvez/tawˈve(j)s/ perhaps; maybe #116
- Romanian poate/ˈpo̯ate/ maybe, possibly #52
- Russian пожалуй[pɐˈʐaɫʊj] maybe, perhaps #1,477
- Serbian možda/mǒʒda/ perhaps, maybe #64
- Slovak možno/mɔʒnɔ/ perhaps, maybe #69
- Slovenian mogoče/mɔɡòːt͡ʃɛ/ maybe, perhaps #81
- Spanish quizá/kiˈθa/ perhaps, maybe #302
- Swedish kanske/²kanːˌɧɛ/ maybe, perhaps, possibly #87
- Tagalog siguro/siˈɡuɾo/ maybe; perhaps; probably; possibly #84
- Turkish belki/bɛlˈci/ maybe, possibly, probably #75
- Ukrainian можливо[mɔʒˈɫɪwɔ] maybe, possibly #196
- Urdu شاید/ʃɑː.jəd̪/ maybe, perhaps #133
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) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.