How to say “near” in 48 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 Russian, where у is the 16th most used word.
- Afrikaans naby #329
- Albanian afër at, beside, by, near, nearby, near to, next to #296
- Arabic عند near, with, at the house of #154
- Armenian մոտ close to, near, by #86
- Basque hurra #2,140
- Bengali কাছে near, around #54
- Bosnian kod by, at, near, besides #147
- Bulgarian до near, close to #59
- Catalan prop near, nearby #467
- Croatian kod by, at, near, besides #159
- Czech blízko #785
- Danish nær #980
- Dutch vlakbij very near #2,427
- English at In, near, or in the general vicinity of #53
- Esperanto apud #359
- Estonian juures near, beside, at #306
- Finnish lähellä near, close, nearby; nigh #535
- French près near; close #443
- Galician preto near, nearby #437
- Georgian ახლო close, near #1,044
- German bei by, near #86
- Greek κοντά near, nearby #322
- Hebrew קרוב close, near #400
- Hindi पास near, nearby #136
- Hungarian add to give or shift to or near someone or… #369
- Icelandic hjá by, near, next to, at place #66
- Indonesian rapat near: at a little distance #1,610
- Italian vicino #495
- Latvian tuvu near, close; adverbial form of tuvs #520
- Lithuanian prie #88
- Macedonian крај beside, near #322
- Malay hampir very close or near to #302
- Malayalam അടുത്ത് #138
- Norwegian ved at, by, near, on #144
- Persian نزدیک #644
- Polish przy by, at, next to, near #155
- Portuguese próxima near, close #582
- Romanian aproape near, close, nearby #230
- Russian у at, by, near #16
- Serbian kod by, at, near, besides #138
- Slovenian pri by, near #71
- Spanish cerca close, near, around, about, nearly, nigh #380
- Swedish nära near, close #401
- Tamil அணி #280
- Telugu దగ్గర by, at, near, close by, at hand, towards, to,… #1,042
- Turkish yakında near, nearby #515
- Ukrainian при at, by, near #301
- Urdu پاس near, nearby #81
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.