How to say “promise” in 45 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.
- prometo/pɾoˈmeto/ Spanish
- 약속[ja̠ks͈o̞k̚] Korean
- वादा/ʋɑː.d̪ɑː/ Hindi
- υπόσχομαι/iˈpo.sxo.me/ Greek
- პირობა[pʼiɾo̞bä] Georgian
- խոստում/χosˈtum/ Armenian
“promise” in Spanish: prometo · French: promis · German: versprochen · Portuguese: prometo · Korean: 약속 · Hindi: वादा · Greek: υπόσχομαι
It is commonest in Urdu, where وعدہ is the 178th most used word.
Promise in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans belowe/bəˈlʊə̯.və/ to promise #472
- Albanian premtoj[pɾɛmˈtɔj] to promise #536
- Arabic وعد/wa.ʕa.da/ to promise something #1,375
- Armenian խոստում/χosˈtum/ promise, vow, pledge #1,094
- Bengali করার/koɾaɾ/ agreement, condition, promise, stipulation #69
- Bosnian obećanje/obet͡ɕǎːɲe/ #2,323
- Bulgarian обещавам[obɛʃˈtavɐm] to promise #625
- Catalan prometo/pɾuˈmɛtu/ to promise #719
- Chinese 前途/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵ tʰu³⁵/ prospects; promise; future; outlook #1,549
- Croatian obećanje/obet͡ɕǎːɲe/ #2,198
- Czech slib[ˈslɪp] #1,381
- Danish lov/ˈlɔv/ to promise #537
- Dutch beloof/bəˈloːf/ to promise #697
- English swear/ˈswɛɚ/ To take an oath, to promise intensely,… #817
- Esperanto promesas/proˈmesas/ to promise #753
- Estonian lubadus/ˈlub̥ɑd̥us/ #2,396
- Finnish lupasin/ˈlupasɪn/ to promise, vow #1,692
- French promis/pʁoˈmi/ to promise #730
- Galician promesa/pɾoˈmɛsa/ #2,283
- Georgian პირობა[pʼiɾo̞bä] #1,284
- German versprochen/fɛɾʃˈpɾɔxən/ to promise #880
- Greek υπόσχομαι/iˈpo.sxo.me/ to promise #736
- Hebrew נשבע/niʃˈba(ʕ)/ to swear, to promise #711
- Hindi वादा/ʋɑː.d̪ɑː/ promise, agreement #358
- Icelandic lofa[ˈlɔːva] to promise #412
- Indonesian janji/ˈd͡ʒand͡ʒi/ #497
- Italian giuro/ˈd͡ʒu.ro/ oath, promise, resolution #856
- Korean 약속[ja̠ks͈o̞k̚] #686
- Lithuanian žadėjai[ʒɐ¹ˈdʲeːjɛɪ] to promise #1,850
- Macedonian вети[ˈvɛti] to promise #756
- Malay janji/ˈd͡ʒand͡ʒi/ #380
- Norwegian løfte/ˈlœftə/ a promise or vow #1,814
- Persian قول[qowl̥] promise, vow, one's word #247
- Polish słowo/ˈswɔ.vɔ/ used to make a promise; word; you have my word #708
- Portuguese prometo/ˌproˈmetu/ to promise #988
- Romanian promit[proˈmit] to promise #721
- Serbian obećanje/obet͡ɕǎːɲe/ #2,150
- Slovak sľub/sʎup/ #973
- Slovenian obljubiti/ɔbljubìːti/ to promise #1,276
- Spanish prometo/pɾoˈmeto/ to promise #894
- Swedish lovade/ˈloːvadɛ/ to promise #974
- Tagalog pangako/paˈŋakoʔ/ #339
- Tamil சத்தியம்/tʃɐt̪ːɪjɐm/ promise, oath #211
- Urdu وعدہ/ʋə(ʔ).d̪ɑ(ː)/ #178
- Vietnamese hứa[hɨə˧˦] to promise; to make a promise #530
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.