How to say “ship” in 48 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.
- nave/ˈnabe/ Spanish
- корабль[kɐˈrablʲ] Russian
- سفينة/sa.fiː.na/ Arabic
- जहाज़/d͡ʒə.ɦɑːz/ Hindi
- ספינה/sfiˈna/ Hebrew
- გემები[ɡemebi] Georgian
“ship” in Spanish: nave · French: vaisseau · German: schiff · Italian: nave · Portuguese: nave · Russian: корабль · Arabic: سفينة · Hindi: जहाज़
It is commonest in Tamil, where கப்பல் is the 307th most used word.
Ship in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans skip/skəp/ #541
- Albanian anije/aˈnije/ ship, large watercraft, vessel #584
- Arabic سفينة/sa.fiː.na/ ship, vessel #818
- Armenian նավ/nɑv/ #895
- Basque itsasontzi/it͡s̺as̺ont͡s̻i/ boat, ship #1,213
- Bengali জাহাজ/d͡ʒahad͡ʒ/ #414
- Bosnian brod/brôːd/ #508
- Bulgarian кораб[ˈkɔrɐp] ship, large boat, vessel #737
- Catalan nau[ˈnaw] #555
- Chinese 上船/ʂɑŋ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än³⁵/ to board a ship; to embark #1,747
- Croatian brod/brôːd/ #502
- Czech loď[ˈloc] #610
- Danish skib/ˈskiːp/ ship, boat, vessel #1,164
- Dutch schip/sxɪp/ #668
- English pilot/ˈpaɪ̯.lət/ A person who steers a ship, a helmsman #2,369
- Esperanto ŝipo/ˈʃipo/ #390
- Estonian laeva/ˈlɑe̯vɑ/ #739
- French vaisseau/vɛ.so/ ship, vessel #985
- Galician barco/ˈbaɾko/ #648
- Georgian გემები[ɡemebi] #778
- German schiff/ʃɪf/ #671
- Greek σκάφος/ˈskafos/ craft, ship #711
- Hebrew ספינה/sfiˈna/ ship, boat #1,643
- Hindi जहाज़/d͡ʒə.ɦɑːz/ #1,679
- Hungarian hajó[ˈhɒjoː] #1,023
- Icelandic skip[ˈscɪːp] ship, boat #808
- Italian nave/ˈna.ve/ #827
- Latvian kuģi/ˈkuɟi/ #679
- Lithuanian laivas[²ˈlɐɪˑʋɐs] #503
- Macedonian брод[brɔt] #470
- Malayalam കപ്പൽ/kɐppɐl/ #1,024
- Norwegian skipet/ˈʃiːpət/ #850
- Persian کشتی[kʰʲæʃ.t̪ʰíː] boat, ship #902
- Polish statek/ˈsta.tɛk/ ship, craft, vessel #1,004
- Portuguese nave/ˈna.vi/ #762
- Romanian nava/ˈnava/ #982
- Russian корабль[kɐˈrablʲ] ship, liner #1,016
- Serbian brod/brôːd/ #522
- Slovak loď/ˈɫɔc/ #369
- Slovenian ladja/làːdja/ #444
- Spanish nave/ˈnabe/ ship, vessel #926
- Swedish ombord/ˈɔmbuːrd/ on board; being on ship #1,120
- Tagalog barko/baɾˈko/ #1,240
- Tamil கப்பல்/kɐpːɐl/ ship, sailing vessel #307
- Telugu ఓడ/oːɖa/ ship, boat, vessel #492
- Turkish gemi[ɟeˈmi] #1,049
- Ukrainian корабель[kɔrɐˈbɛlʲ] #906
- Urdu جہاز/d͡ʒə.ɦɑːz/ plane, ship #337
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) 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.