How to say “obtain” in 31 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.
- obtener/obteˈneɾ/ Spanish
- 得到/tɤ³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹/ Chinese
- השיג/hiˈsiɡ/ Hebrew
“obtain” in Spanish: obtener · Italian: ottenere · Chinese: 得到
It is commonest in English, where get is the 45th most used word.
Obtain in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans kry/krəi/ to get, receive, obtain #81
- Arabic تلقى/ta.laq.qaː/ to receive, to obtain #1,669
- Armenian ստանալ/stɑˈnɑl/ to receive, to get; to obtain #1,720
- Bosnian dobio/ˈdobɪo/ to receive, get, obtain, acquire #373
- Catalan obtenir[up.təˈni] to obtain, to get #2,210
- Chinese 得到/tɤ³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹/ to obtain; to acquire; to get; to win; to… #50
- Croatian dobio/ˈdobɪo/ to receive, get, obtain, acquire #306
- Czech získat[ˈziːskat] to gain, obtain, to earn, to win #915
- Danish opnå/ˈʌbˌnɔːˀ/ to achieve, obtain, accomplish #2,369
- English get/ɡɛt/ To obtain; to acquire #45
- Finnish hankkia/ˈhɑŋkːiɑˣ/ to acquire, get, obtain, find #1,566
- French obtenir/ɔp.tə.niʁ/ to get, to obtain #1,183
- Galician conseguir/konseˈɡiɾ/ to get, obtain #720
- Hebrew השיג/hiˈsiɡ/ To obtain, procure, come by #1,810
- Hungarian szerezni[ˈsɛrɛzni] to obtain, get, acquire, procure, earn #1,612
- Indonesian membeli/məmbəˈli/ to buy, to obtain in exchange for money or… #538
- Italian ottenere/ot.teˈne.re/ to obtain, to achieve, to gain #1,345
- Latvian dabūt[dabûːt] to get, to obtain #444
- Lithuanian gauti/ˈɡɑ̂ʊ.tʲɪ/ to get, to obtain, to gain #363
- Macedonian важи[ˈvaʒi] to be valid, apply, obtain #541
- Malay memperoleh/məmpəˈroləh/ to obtain, to get #2,308
- Norwegian får/foːr/ to get; to have; to obtain; to receive #80
- Polish zdobyć/ˈzdɔ.bɘt͡ɕ/ to obtain, to acquire, to gain #1,292
- Portuguese conseguir/kõ.seˈɡi(ʁ)/ to get, obtain #504
- Romanian obține/obˈt͡si.ne/ to obtain #1,148
- Serbian dobio/ˈdobɪo/ to receive, get, obtain, acquire #380
- Slovenian dobiti/dɔbìːti/ to receive, get, obtain, acquire #333
- Spanish obtener/obteˈneɾ/ to obtain #1,539
- Tagalog makuha/maˈkuha/ to obtain; to get #295
- Tamil ஈட்டு/iːʈːɯ/ to acquire, obtain #1,564
- Vietnamese nhận[ɲən˧˨ʔ] to receive; to get; to obtain #174
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 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.