How to say “play” in 52 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.
- juego/ˈxweɡo/ Spanish
- играть[ɪˈɡratʲ] Russian
- تلعب/talaʕʕaba/ Arabic
- 놀이[no̞ɾi] Korean
- खेल/kʰeːl/ Hindi
- παίζει/ˈpezi/ Greek
“play” in Spanish: juego · French: jouer · German: spielen · Portuguese: jogo · Korean: 놀이 · Russian: играть · Arabic: تلعب · Hindi: खेल
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where speel is the 163rd most used word.
Play in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans speel/spɪə̯l/ to play #163
- Albanian lojë/lɔjə/ play, performance #521
- Arabic تلعب/talaʕʕaba/ to play, to act playfully #732
- Armenian խաղ/χɑʁ/ game, play #391
- Basque jokatu/ɟokatu/ to play #421
- Bengali খেলা/kʰæla/ to play #313
- Bosnian igra/ǐɡra/ to play #588
- Bulgarian игра[iˈɡra] play, game #549
- Catalan jugar[ʒuˈɣa] to play #883
- Chinese 表演/pi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ jɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to perform; to act; to play #259
- Croatian igra/ǐɡra/ to play #639
- Czech hrát[ˈɦraːt] to play #536
- Danish spille/spelə/ to play #491
- Dutch speelt/ˈspeːlt/ to play #946
- English shows/ʃoʊz/ A play, dance, or other entertainment #1,407
- Esperanto ludi/ˈludi/ to play #487
- Estonian mängima/ˈmæŋɡ̊imɑ/ to play #947
- Finnish soittaa/ˈsoi̯tːɑːˣ/ to play #386
- French jouer/ʒwe/ to play #418
- Galician xogo/ˈʃoɡo/ to play #578
- Georgian ითამაშებ[itʰämäʃe̞pʰ] to play #1,054
- German spielen/ˈʃpiːlən/ to play #451
- Greek παίζει/ˈpezi/ to play #806
- Hebrew שיחק/siˈχek/ to play #2,104
- Hindi खेल/kʰeːl/ to play #311
- Hungarian játszani[ˈjaːt͡sːɒni] to play #953
- Icelandic leika[ˈleiːka] to play #436
- Indonesian bermain/bərˈmain/ to play #335
- Italian gioco/ˈd͡ʒɔ.ko/ to play a game, for fun or as a pastime #570
- Korean 놀이[no̞ɾi] play; game; pastime; amusement, recreation #1,705
- Latvian spēlē/ˈspeːleː/ #549
- Lithuanian žaisti/ˈʒɐɪsʲtʲɪ/ to play #591
- Macedonian играш[ˈiɡraʃ] to play #652
- Malay bermain/bərˈmain/ to play #344
- Malayalam കളിക്ക്/kɐɭikkɨ/ to play #856
- Norwegian spiller/ˈspɪlər/ to play #438
- Polish gra/ˈɡra/ to play #527
- Portuguese jogo/ˈʒo.ɡu/ to play #397
- Romanian joc/ʒok/ to play #412
- Russian играть[ɪˈɡratʲ] to play #674
- Serbian igra/ǐɡra/ to play #586
- Slovak hrať/ɦrac/ to play #359
- Slovenian igra/íːɡra/ #302
- Spanish juego/ˈxweɡo/ to play #432
- Swedish spelar/²speːlar/ to play; a game, a tune, a melody, an… #375
- Tagalog maglaro/maɡlaˈɾoʔ/ to play #1,430
- Tamil நாடகம்/nɑːɖɐɡɐm/ play, a theatrical work #864
- Telugu ఆట/aːʈa/ play, sport, game #220
- Turkish oynamak/oj.naˈmak/ to play, amuse oneself, fool around #1,194
- Ukrainian грати[ˈɦrate] to play a musical instrument #748
- Urdu چال/t͡ʃɑːl/ play, trick #327
- Vietnamese chơi[t͡ɕəːj˧˧] to play #252
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), 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.