How to say “operation” in 35 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.
- operación/opeɾaˈθjon/ Spanish
- операция[ɐpʲɪˈrat͡sɨjə] Russian
- 작전[t͡ɕa̠k̚t͡ɕ͈ʌ̹n] Korean
- कार्यवाही/kɑːɾ.jə.ʋɑː.ɦiː/ Hindi
- εγχείρηση/eŋˈçiɾisi/ Greek
- ניתוח/niˈtuaχ/ Hebrew
“operation” in Spanish: operación · French: opération · German: operation · Italian: operazione · Portuguese: contas · Korean: 작전 · Russian: операция · Hindi: कार्यवाही
It is commonest in Korean, where 작전 is the 807th most used word.
Operation in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic تشغيل/taʃ.ɣiːl/ operating, operation #994
- Basque operazio/opeɾas̻io/ surgery, operation #1,096
- Bosnian operacija/ˈopɛˌrɐtsɪjɐ/ #1,336
- Bulgarian операция[opɛˈrat͡sijɐ] #1,031
- Catalan operació[u.pə.ɾə.siˈo] An operation, the act or process of operating #1,220
- Chinese 手術/ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu⁵¹/ surgery; medical operation; procedure #1,421
- Croatian operacija/ˈopɛˌrɐtsɪjɐ/ #1,467
- Czech operace[ˈopɛrat͡sɛ] surgery, operation #1,373
- Danish operation/obəʁɑˈɕoːˀn/ an operation, undertaking #1,743
- Dutch operatie/ˌoː.pəˈraː.(t)si/ #1,007
- English proof/pɹuf/ An effort, process, or operation designed to… #1,622
- Estonian operatsioon/operɑtsiˈoːn/ #1,441
- French opération/ɔ.pe.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ #1,088
- German operation/ɔˌpəʁaˈt͡sioːn/ #1,628
- Greek εγχείρηση/eŋˈçiɾisi/ operation, surgical procedure #2,423
- Hebrew ניתוח/niˈtuaχ/ operation, surgery #913
- Hindi कार्यवाही/kɑːɾ.jə.ʋɑː.ɦiː/ operation, execution #1,371
- Indonesian pemikiran/pəmiˈkiran/ the operation by which mental activity arise… #1,849
- Italian operazione/o.pe.ratˈt͡sjo.ne/ #1,313
- Korean 작전[t͡ɕa̠k̚t͡ɕ͈ʌ̹n] operation, mission #807
- Latvian operācija[ɔpːeraːtsijːa] #1,588
- Macedonian операција[ɔpɛˈrat͡si(j)a] #856
- Malay pembedahan/pəmbəˈdahan/ surgery, surgical operation #1,356
- Norwegian operasjon/ʊpərɑˈʃuːn/ an operation #2,160
- Persian عملیات[ʔæ.mæ.li.jɒːt̪ʰ] operation, a military campaign #1,505
- Polish operacji/ɔ.pɛˈra.t͡sji/ #1,738
- Portuguese contas/ˈkõ.tɐs/ operation, calculation #1,167
- Russian операция[ɐpʲɪˈrat͡sɨjə] #1,948
- Serbian operacija/ˈopɛˌrɐtsɪjɐ/ #1,481
- Slovak chod/xɔt/ #1,189
- Spanish operación/opeɾaˈθjon/ #1,415
- Swedish operation/ɔpɛraˈɧuːn/ an operation #1,928
- Tagalog operasyon/ʔopeɾasˈjon/ #1,582
- Turkish ameliyat/ameliˈjat/ operation, surgery #1,281
- Ukrainian операція[ɔpeˈrat͡sʲijɐ] #2,407
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) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.