How to say “reason” in 49 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.
- razón/raˈθon/ Spanish
- वजह/ʋə.d͡ʒəɦ/ Hindi
- λογικό/ˌlojiˈko/ Greek
- காரணம்/kɑːɾɐɳɐm/ Tamil
- причина[preˈt͡ʃɪnɐ] Ukrainian
“reason” in Spanish: razón · French: raison · Italian: ragione · Portuguese: razão · Hindi: वजह · Turkish: sebebi · Greek: λογικό
It is commonest in Estonian, where aru is the 134th most used word.
Reason in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian arsye[aɾˈsy.ɛ] #381
- Arabic عقل/ʕaql/ understanding, reason, wisdom, sound… #1,588
- Armenian պատճառով/pɑtt͡ʃɑˈrov/ by reason of, because of #320
- Basque arrazoi/aras̻oi̯/ cause, reason #226
- Bengali অযথা/ɔd͡ʒɔt̪ʰa/ unnecessarily, without reason, in vain #1,761
- Bosnian zato/zǎtoː/ so, therefore, for that/this reason, ergo #111
- Bulgarian причина[priˈt͡ʃinɐ] cause, reason #447
- Catalan raó[rəˈo] reason, motive #231
- Chinese 原因/ɥɛn³⁵ in⁵⁵/ cause; reason #131
- Croatian zato/zǎtoː/ so, therefore, for that/this reason, ergo #119
- Czech důvod[ˈduːvot] #502
- Danish grunden/ˈɡʁɔnˀən/ #1,464
- Dutch zomaar/ˈzoː.maːr/ just because; for no reason, out of the blue #685
- English so/soʊ/ As a result; for that reason; therefore;… #38
- Esperanto tial/ˈtial/ for that reason #334
- Estonian aru/ˈɑru/ reason, mind #134
- Finnish mieltä/ˈmieltæ/ mind, reason #446
- French raison/ʁɛ.zɔ̃/ #205
- Galician razón/raˈθoŋ/ #291
- German warum/vaˈʁʊm/ why; for what reason #91
- Greek λογικό/ˌlojiˈko/ reason, mind #1,657
- Hebrew למה/ˈlɔm.mɔ/ why, for what reason #37
- Hindi वजह/ʋə.d͡ʒəɦ/ reason, cause #510
- Hungarian azért[ˈɒzeːrt] for that reason, the reason is …, because #103
- Icelandic tilefni/ˈtʰɪːlɛpnɪ/ reason for doing a thing #1,705
- Indonesian kenapa/kəˈnapa/ why; for what reason #66
- Italian ragione/raˈd͡ʒo.ne/ reason, intellect #281
- Korean 왜냐하면[wɛɲa̠ɦa̠mjʌ̹n] because; for the following reason #313
- Latvian kāpēc[ˈkâːpêːts] why? for what reason? for what purpose? #61
- Lithuanian kam/ˈkɑ̂ːm/ why, for what reason, what's the reason #150
- Macedonian причина[ˈprit͡ʃina] cause, reason #366
- Malay kenapa/kəˈnapə/ Why; for what reason #58
- Norwegian årsak/ˈôːɾsɑːk/ a reason #1,906
- Persian واسه[vɒː.se] for, by reason of, for the sake of #57
- Polish powodu/pɔˈvɔ.du/ cause, reason #370
- Portuguese razão/ʁaˈzɐ̃w̃/ #248
- Romanian judecată/ʒudeˈkatə/ judgement, reason, wisdom #1,498
- Serbian zato/zǎtoː/ so, therefore, for that/this reason, ergo #107
- Slovak dôvod/du̯ɔvɔt/ reason, cause, motive #290
- Slovenian zakaj/zakàːj/ why, for what reason #38
- Spanish razón/raˈθon/ #232
- Swedish anledning/ˈanleːdˌnɪŋ/ reason; cause #905
- Tagalog bakit/ˈbakit/ why; for what reason #44
- Tamil காரணம்/kɑːɾɐɳɐm/ reason, ground #198
- Telugu కాబట్టి/ˈkaːbaʈʈi/ therefore, for that reason, consequently #75
- Turkish sebebi/sebeˈbi/ #630
- Ukrainian причина[preˈt͡ʃɪnɐ] #657
- Urdu کارن/kɑː.ɾən/ cause, reason #1,437
- Vietnamese lẽ[lɛ˦ˀ˥] reason; rationale; argument #225
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.