How to say “private” in 35 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.
- privado/pɾiˈbado/ Spanish
- 私人/sɹ̩⁵⁵ ɻən³⁵/ Chinese
- սեփական/sepʰɑˈkɑn/ Armenian
- தனியார்/t̪ɐnɪjɑːɾ/ Tamil
- مخصوص[mæx.suːs] Persian
“private” in Spanish: privado · French: privé · Portuguese: particular · Chinese: 私人
It is commonest in Armenian, where սեփական is the 223rd most used word.
Private in other languages, A to Z
- Armenian սեփական/sepʰɑˈkɑn/ #223
- Bosnian nasamo/nâsaːmo/ in private, alone, face-to-face #1,583
- Bulgarian личен[ˈlit͡ʃɛn] personal, individual, private #1,893
- Catalan privat[pɾiˈβat] #1,414
- Chinese 私人/sɹ̩⁵⁵ ɻən³⁵/ private; personal #496
- Croatian nasamo/nâsaːmo/ in private, alone, face-to-face #1,605
- Danish privat[pʁiˈvæˀd] #1,527
- Dutch eigen/ˈɛi̯ɣə(n)/ own, private #293
- Esperanto sekreto/seˈkreto/ a secret; private affair; confidentiality #1,153
- Estonian isiklik/ˈisiklik/ personal, private #1,146
- French privé/pʁi.ve/ #1,602
- Galician privado/pɾiˈbado/ #1,828
- Georgian პირადი[pʼiɾädi] personal, private #1,353
- German eigenen[ˈʔaɪɡn̩ən] own, peculiar or private to someone,… #703
- Greek προσωπική/ˌprosopiˈci/ personal, intimate, private #1,706
- Hebrew אישי/iˈʃi/ personal, private #737
- Hindi गुप्त/ɡʊpt̪/ secret; private; hidden, clandestine;… #958
- Italian personale/per.soˈna.le/ personal, private #904
- Korean 개인[ˈkɛ(ː)in] an individual or individuals; a private person #689
- Latvian kareivji/ˈkareiʋji/ soldier, private rank in the army; a soldier… #2,102
- Lithuanian kareivis[kɐ²ˈrʲɛɪˑʋʲɪs] soldier, conscript, private #2,059
- Macedonian лична[ˈlit͡ʃna] personal, private #1,666
- Malay peribadi/pəriˈbadi/ personal, private #693
- Malayalam സ്വന്തം/sʋɐn̪t̪ɐm/ own, private #121
- Norwegian privat/prɪˈvɑːt/ #1,480
- Persian مخصوص[mæx.suːs] private, characteristic #933
- Portuguese particular/paʁ.t͡ʃi.kuˈlaʁ/ #2,155
- Romanian privat/priˈvat/ #2,140
- Russian кабинет[kəbʲɪˈnʲet] office, private office, home office #2,115
- Serbian nasamo/nâsaːmo/ in private, alone, face-to-face #1,551
- Slovak súkromný/suːkrɔmniː/ #1,395
- Slovenian zaseben/zaséːbən/ #2,277
- Spanish privado/pɾiˈbado/ private, privy #1,754
- Tamil தனியார்/t̪ɐnɪjɑːɾ/ #597
- Urdu نجی/nɪ.d͡ʒiː/ private, personal, unofficial, confidential #465
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.