How to say “possibility” in 38 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 Vietnamese, where được is the 15th most used word.
- Afrikaans moontlikheid #1,482
- Albanian mundësi possibility, chance #294
- Arabic احتمال possibility, likelihood, chance, eventuality #1,526
- Armenian հնար means, way; possibility #1,083
- Bosnian mogućnost possibility, potentiality #1,585
- Bulgarian възможност #613
- Catalan possibilitat #1,271
- Chinese 可能性 possibility; probability; likelihood #990
- Croatian mogućnost possibility, potentiality #1,381
- Czech možnost #716
- Danish mulighed #937
- Dutch mogelijkheid #1,915
- English chance An opportunity or possibility #419
- Finnish mahdollisuus possibility, chance, probability, likelihood #1,263
- German kann to be able, to have the possibility of, can #51
- Greek δυνατόν #1,038
- Hebrew סיכוי A chance, probability, possibility #430
- Hindi संभावना possibility, chance, probability, likelihood #1,094
- Icelandic möguleiki possibility, chance #1,362
- Indonesian kemungkinan #749
- Italian possibilità #1,119
- Korean 가능성 degree of possibility #1,863
- Latvian varbūt Used to express possibility, probability;… #77
- Lithuanian galimybė #802
- Macedonian можност #609
- Malayalam സാധ്യത #379
- Persian امکان #551
- Polish możliwości #1,573
- Portuguese possibilidade #2,216
- Serbian mogućnost possibility, potentiality #1,456
- Slovak možnosť #440
- Slovenian možnost #324
- Spanish riesgo risk; the possibility of harm or an… #1,501
- Swedish möjlighet possibility, opportunity #1,788
- Turkish ihtimal possibility, probability #2,017
- Ukrainian можливість #1,170
- Urdu امکان possibility, probability #988
- Vietnamese được particle that expresses ability, possibility #15
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.