How to say “shape” in 38 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.
- forma/ˈfoɾma/ Spanish
- מצב/maˈt͡sav/ Hebrew
- உருவம்/ʊɾʊʋɐm/ Tamil
- ആകൃതി/aːkrɨd̪i/ Malayalam
- شکل[ʃekʰʲl̥] Persian
“shape” in Spanish: forma · French: forme · German: form · Turkish: şekilde
It is commonest in Turkish, where şekilde is the 168th most used word.
Shape in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans vorm/fɔrm/ A form, a shape #620
- Albanian formë/ˈfoɾmə/ form; figure; shape; model #1,037
- Arabic صورة/sˤuː.ra/ form, shape, figure #344
- Basque itxura/it͡ʃuɾa/ appearance, shape #221
- Bosnian lik/lîːk/ form, shape, figure, appearance #1,115
- Bulgarian форма[ˈfɔrmɐ] shape, form #1,187
- Catalan forma[ˈfor.mə] form; shape #423
- Chinese 形成/ɕiŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵/ to form; to take shape; to evolve and become #921
- Croatian lik/lîːk/ form, shape, figure, appearance #1,266
- Danish form/fɔrm/ #1,089
- Dutch vormen/ˈvɔrmə(n)/ a form, shape #1,883
- English y/waɪ/ A figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y #962
- Esperanto formo/ˈformo/ form, shape, image #1,458
- Estonian vorm/vorm/ A form, a shape #2,293
- Finnish kunnossa/ˈkunːosːɑ/ in shape #152
- French forme/fɔʁm/ #903
- Galician forma/ˈfoɾma/ form, shape #400
- Georgian მდგომარეობა[mdɡo̞mäɾe̞o̞bä] condition, shape, state, status, situation,… #909
- German form/fɔʁm/ #1,934
- Greek μορφή/morˈfi/ form, shape #1,806
- Hebrew מצב/maˈt͡sav/ a shape, a situation, a state #494
- Hungarian alak[ˈɒlɒk] figure, form, shape #2,292
- Indonesian bentuk/bənˈtuʔ/ form; shape; type #1,063
- Korean 꼴[k͈o̞ɭ] the shape or appearance of a thing #1,168
- Macedonian облик[ˈɔblik] shape, form #2,170
- Malay bentuk/bənˈtok/ shape; form #943
- Malayalam ആകൃതി/aːkrɨd̪i/ #1,884
- Norwegian form/fɔrm/ a form, shape #1,346
- Persian شکل[ʃekʰʲl̥] shape, form #631
- Portuguese forma/ˈfɔʁ.mɐ/ form; shape #261
- Serbian lik/lîːk/ form, shape, figure, appearance #1,086
- Slovenian oblika/ɔblíːka/ #1,177
- Spanish forma/ˈfoɾma/ shape; form; figure #282
- Swedish form/ˈfɔrm/ a form, a shape #1,481
- Tagalog hugis/ˈhuɡis/ shape; form #1,866
- Tamil உருவம்/ʊɾʊʋɐm/ shape, figure, form #731
- Turkish şekilde/ʃe.cilˈde/ #168
- Vietnamese khuôn[xuən˧˧] shape, pattern, mold #1,428
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), 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.