How to say “shoot” in 32 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.
It is commonest in Vietnamese, where bắn is the 305th most used word.
- Afrikaans skiet #466
- Albanian mitë #2,468
- Bulgarian стрелям to shoot, to propel #2,475
- Catalan disparar to shoot #736
- Chinese 開槍 to open fire; to shoot; to discharge a firearm #1,998
- Czech střílet to shoot, fire #1,639
- Danish skyde to shoot #658
- Dutch schiet to shoot, fire #486
- English target A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice,… #1,536
- Esperanto pafis to shoot, to fire #645
- Estonian tulistama to shoot #1,811
- Finnish ampua to shoot, fire #1,274
- Galician disparar to shoot, fire #1,221
- German schießen to shoot; to fire #1,049
- Greek πυροβόλησε to shoot, fire #1,494
- Hungarian lőni to shoot, fire #2,435
- Icelandic skjóta to shoot #1,405
- Indonesian menembak to shoot; to fire #511
- Italian sparato to shoot, to fire #914
- Korean 제기랄 damn it!; shoot! #607
- Macedonian пукај to shoot, fire #886
- Malay tembak to shoot #313
- Norwegian skyte to shoot #659
- Polish strzelać to shoot, to fire a projectile weapon #1,993
- Portuguese disparar to shoot, to fire #1,472
- Russian стрелять to shoot, to fire #1,819
- Slovak strieľať to shoot, fire #875
- Spanish disparar to shoot, to fire #1,953
- Swedish sköt to shoot a weapon, to fire a weapon #642
- Tagalog barilin to shoot with a gun #981
- Ukrainian стріляти to shoot, to fire #1,349
- Vietnamese bắn to fire; to shoot #305
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.