How to say “period” in 43 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 Ukrainian, where за is the 18th most used word.
- Afrikaans nag The period between sunset and sunrise, when… #207
- Arabic فترة interval, a while, a period of time #319
- Basque isilune a period of silence #2,288
- Bengali ধরে for a period of time #134
- Bulgarian период #1,829
- Catalan tarda the period of time between noon and dusk, or… #815
- Chinese 時候 period of time #186
- Croatian točka dot, period #1,908
- Czech období #1,883
- Dutch uur an hour, a period of time #201
- English years A period of time akin to the time taken for… #181
- Estonian hooaeg season, period, epoch #1,694
- French longtemps for a long time; over a long period #334
- Galician noite night; period of dark, when the sun is below… #113
- Georgian ხანი A period of time; time #435
- German system #1,643
- Greek περίοδο period, phase, epoch #2,197
- Hebrew יום Day: the period between dawn and dusk #132
- Hindi देर period of time; a while #320
- Icelandic punktur dot, point, period, full stop #1,758
- Indonesian hari any period of 24 hours #67
- Italian periodo #1,294
- Korean 동안 interval, period of time #169
- Latvian punktu stop/full stop, period #1,216
- Lithuanian metas time, period #336
- Macedonian период #1,532
- Malay hari day: A period of time equal or almost equal… #64
- Malayalam കാലാവധി lifespan; time period #1,646
- Persian زمان time, epoch, period, age, season #172
- Polish okres #2,497
- Portuguese dia period between sunrise and sunset #126
- Romanian perioadă period, age #1,316
- Russian срок period, span #2,041
- Serbian tačka dot, period #2,227
- Slovak obdobie #1,284
- Slovenian doba #1,472
- Spanish temporada season, period, span of time #2,018
- Swedish veckor a week, a period of 7 days #601
- Telugu వయస్సు age, time or period of life, stage of… #305
- Turkish devre period; cycle; revolution #2,134
- Ukrainian за indicating period or circumstance in which… #18
- Urdu مدت period, duration #725
- Vietnamese tiết a period #781
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.