How to say “need” in 44 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.
- necesito/ˌneseˈsito/ Spanish
- 需要/ɕy⁵⁵ jɑʊ̯⁵¹/ Chinese
- 필요[pʰiɾjo] Korean
- պետք/petkʰ/ Armenian
- தேவை/t̪eːʋɐɪ̯/ Tamil
- ആവശ്യം/aːʋɐʃjɐm/ Malayalam
“need” in Spanish: necesito · French: besoin · Italian: bisogno · Portuguese: preciso · Chinese: 需要 · Korean: 필요 · Turkish: ihtiyacı
It is commonest in Chinese, where 需要 is the 12th most used word.
Need in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian nevojë/neˈvojə/ need, necessity #162
- Arabic أطلب/ʔatˤ.la.ba/ to cause one to need a thing #442
- Armenian պետք/petkʰ/ need, requirement #63
- Bengali চাহিদা/t͡ʃahid̪a/ necessity, need #1,501
- Bulgarian нужда[ˈnuʒdɐ] #188
- Catalan necessito/nəsəˈsitu/ to need #243
- Chinese 需要/ɕy⁵⁵ jɑʊ̯⁵¹/ to need; to require #12
- Czech potřebuju[ˈpotr̝̊ɛbuju] to need #359
- Danish behøver/beˈhøːˀvɐ/ to need #244
- Dutch toe/tu/ due for, ready for, in need of #214
- English tired[ˈtaɪ̯ɚd] In need of some rest or sleep #732
- Esperanto bezonas/beˈzonas/ to need #106
- Finnish tarvitse/ˈtarvɪtse/ to need, require #207
- French besoin/bə.zwɛ̃/ #123
- Galician necesito/neθeˈsito/ to need #854
- Georgian უნდა[undä] have to, should, ought to, need, must #15
- German muss/mʊs/ to have to; must; to be obliged; to need #77
- Greek χρειάζεται/xɾiˈa.ze.te/ I need, I require #221
- Hebrew צריך/t͡saˈʁiχ/ Needing, in need of #43
- Hindi आवश्यकता/ɑː.ʋəʃ.jək.t̪ɑː/ necessity, need, inevitability #658
- Hungarian kell[ˈkɛlː] must, need to, have to #20
- Icelandic þarf/θarf/ to need, have to #380
- Indonesian butuh/ˈbutuh/ to need #199
- Italian bisogno/biˈzoɲ.ɲo/ #160
- Korean 필요[pʰiɾjo] need; necessity #203
- Latvian vajadzības/ˈʋa`ja`dziːbas/ need, necessary #2,160
- Lithuanian reikia[²ˈrʲɛɪˑkʲɛ] to need #47
- Macedonian потреба[ˈpɔtrɛba] #446
- Malay keperluan/kəpərˈluan/ necessity; need #1,439
- Malayalam ആവശ്യം/aːʋɐʃjɐm/ #228
- Norwegian bo/ˈbuː/ a need #666
- Persian نیاز[ni.jɒ́ːz] need, necessity, want, requirement, neediness #389
- Polish muszę/ˈmu.ʂɛ/ to have to, to need to, must #93
- Portuguese preciso/pɾeˈsi.zu/ to need #152
- Romanian trebuie[ˈtre.bu.je] to be necessary, to need to, to have to #36
- Slovak potrebovať/pɔtrebɔvac/ to need #374
- Spanish necesito/ˌneseˈsito/ to need #203
- Swedish behöver/bɛˈhøːvɛr/ to need #89
- Tagalog isipin/ʔisiˈpin/ things that need careful or deep thinking;… #509
- Tamil தேவை/t̪eːʋɐɪ̯/ need, necessity, want, exigency #140
- Telugu ఆకలి/aːkali/ a need or desire for food - hunger, appetite #898
- Turkish ihtiyacı/ih.ti.jaːˈd͡ʒɯ/ #454
- Urdu ضرورت/zə.ɾuː.ɾət̪/ necessity, need, requirement #57
- Vietnamese cần[kən˨˩] to need #78
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) 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.