How to say “pardon” in 34 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.
- 사면[ˈsʰa̠(ː)mjʌ̹n] Korean
- क्षमा/kʂə.mɑː/ Hindi
- ներում/neˈɾum/ Armenian
- క్షమించు/kʂamiɲt͡ɕu/ Telugu
- вибачення[ˈʋɪbɐt͡ʃenʲːɐ] Ukrainian
- بخشش/bəx.ʃɪʃ/ Urdu
“pardon” in French: pardonner · Portuguese: perdão · Korean: 사면 · Hindi: क्षमा
It is commonest in Malay, where maaf is the 106th most used word.
Pardon in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans verskoning/fərsˈkʊənəŋ/ a pardon; forgiveness #542
- Albanian fal/ˈfal/ to forgive, pardon #152
- Armenian ներում/neˈɾum/ pardon, forgiveness #933
- Bengali ক্ষমা/kʰɔma/ forgiveness, pardon #277
- Bosnian oprostiti/oprǒstiti/ to forgive, pardon #1,624
- Bulgarian извинявам[izviˈnʲa̟vɐm] to forgive, excuse, pardon #1,366
- Catalan perdona/pərˈðonə/ to pardon, forgive, excuse #502
- Chinese 原諒/ɥɛn³⁵ li̯ɑŋ⁵¹/ to forgive; to excuse; to pardon #1,692
- Croatian oprostiti/oprǒstiti/ to forgive, pardon #1,406
- Dutch sorry/ˈsɔ.ri/ sorry, pardon, excuse me #197
- English excuse/ɪksˈkjuz/ To forgive; to pardon; to overlook #344
- Esperanto pardonu/parˈdonu/ to forgive, pardon #125
- Estonian vabandage/ˈvɑb̥ɑnd̥ɑɡ̊e/ excuse me, pardon me #412
- French pardonner/paʁ.dɔ.ne/ to pardon, forgive #2,436
- German verzeihen/fɛɐ̯ˈtsaɪ̯ən/ to forgive; to pardon; to excuse #1,378
- Greek συγχωρείτε/ˌsiŋxoˈrite/ to forgive, pardon, excuse #508
- Hebrew סליחה/sliˈχa/ forgiveness, pardon #201
- Hindi क्षमा/kʂə.mɑː/ a pardon, forgiveness #354
- Hungarian elnézést[ˈɛlneːzeːʃt] sorry!, pardon! #216
- Italian scusi/ˈsku.zi/ excuse me, pardon me #419
- Korean 사면[ˈsʰa̠(ː)mjʌ̹n] pardon; amnesty #2,108
- Macedonian извини[ˈizvini] to forgive, excuse, pardon #156
- Malay maaf[ma.ʔaf] Pardon, forgiveness #106
- Portuguese perdão/peʁˈdɐ̃w̃/ pardon; forgiveness #1,532
- Romanian poftim/pofˈtim/ please!, please?, pardon!, I beg your pardon,… #379
- Serbian oprostiti/oprǒstiti/ to forgive, pardon #1,787
- Spanish perdón/peɾˈdon/ sorry, pardon me #581
- Swedish ursäkta/ʉ̟ːˈʂɛkta/ excuse me!, pardon, I'm sorry! #211
- Tamil மன்னிப்பு/mɐnːɪpːɯ/ forgiveness, pardon #300
- Telugu క్షమించు/kʂamiɲt͡ɕu/ to pardon #967
- Turkish pardon/ˈpaɾ.don/ pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your… #543
- Ukrainian вибачення[ˈʋɪbɐt͡ʃenʲːɐ] #1,325
- Urdu بخشش/bəx.ʃɪʃ/ #2,334
- Vietnamese xá[saː˧˦] to pardon #1,906
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 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.