How to say “pay” in 45 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 Chinese, where 注意 is the 123rd most used word.
- Afrikaans betaal #241
- Albanian paguaj to pay #658
- Arabic دفع to pay #613
- Armenian վճարել to pay #626
- Bosnian platiti to pay #880
- Bulgarian платя to pay #1,195
- Catalan escolta to listen to, to pay attention to #233
- Chinese 注意 to pay attention to; to take note of; to… #123
- Croatian platiti to pay #735
- Czech platí to pay #1,003
- Danish betale to pay #583
- Dutch betalen to pay #566
- English free Without needing to pay #497
- Esperanto atentu to pay attention #263
- Estonian maksma to pay #816
- Finnish maksoi to pay #1,875
- French payer to pay #579
- Galician escoita to listen, to pay attention #471
- German bezahlt to pay, to balance a bill #930
- Greek πληρώνω to pay #2,415
- Hebrew שילם to pay #1,757
- Hungarian figyelj to watch, to observe, to pay attention,… #220
- Icelandic heimsækja to visit, to pay a visit #1,118
- Indonesian bayar to pay #1,020
- Italian pagare to pay #891
- Latvian maksā pay, payment, fee, fare, toll #852
- Lithuanian dėmesio pay attention! attention! #391
- Macedonian плати salary, pay #709
- Malay bayar to pay #541
- Malayalam ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുക pay attention #533
- Norwegian betale to pay #585
- Polish zapłacić to pay #1,579
- Romanian plăti to pay #1,222
- Russian платить to pay #1,637
- Serbian platiti to pay #1,078
- Slovak platiť to pay #897
- Slovenian plačati to pay #523
- Spanish pagar to pay #765
- Swedish betala to pay; to give money in exchange for goods… #558
- Tagalog bayaran to pay for something #1,146
- Tamil கவனி to pay attention, notice, detect or discern,… #763
- Telugu చెల్లించారు to pay #1,123
- Turkish ödemek to pay #2,269
- Ukrainian заплатити to pay #1,569
- Vietnamese tốn to pay for, to spend; to cost, to consume #1,384
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.