How to say “special” in 40 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.
- especial/espeˈθjal/ Spanish
- خاص/xaːsˤsˤ/ Arabic
- 特殊/tʰɤ⁵¹ ʂu⁵⁵/ Chinese
- 별[pjɘ(ː)ɭ] Korean
- ειδική/ˌiðiˈci/ Greek
- განსაკუთრებული[ɡ̊änsäkʼutʰɾe̞buli] Georgian
“special” in Spanish: especial · French: spécial · German: besonderes · Italian: speciale · Portuguese: especial · Chinese: 特殊 · Korean: 별 · Arabic: خاص
It is commonest in Turkish, where özel is the 260th most used word.
Special in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans spesiale/spɛʃiˈɑːlə/ #520
- Arabic خاص/xaːsˤsˤ/ #530
- Armenian հատուկ/hɑˈtuk/ #736
- Bengali বিশেষ/biʃeʃ/ #334
- Bosnian poseban/pǒːseban/ #1,603
- Bulgarian специален[spɛt͡siˈalɛn] #1,170
- Catalan especial[əs.pə.siˈal] #672
- Chinese 特殊/tʰɤ⁵¹ ʂu⁵⁵/ special; exceptional #555
- Croatian poseban/pǒːseban/ #1,598
- Czech zvláštní[ˈzvlaːʃtɲiː] #664
- Danish særlig/ˈsæɐ̯li/ special; particular #1,045
- Dutch speciale/ˈspeːʃaːlə/ #1,132
- English especially/ɪkˈspɛʃ.(ə.)li/ In a special manner; specially #982
- Esperanto speciala/spet͡siˈala/ special, particular #663
- Estonian eriline/ˈeriline/ special, different #823
- French spécial/spe.sjal/ #1,195
- Georgian განსაკუთრებული[ɡ̊änsäkʼutʰɾe̞buli] special, particular #1,103
- German besonderes/bəˈzɔndərəs/ special, particular, extraordinary #1,514
- Greek ειδική/ˌiðiˈci/ special, particular, specific #1,937
- Hebrew מיוחד/mejuˈχad/ unique, special #596
- Hindi विशेष/ʋɪ.ʃeːʂ/ distinguished, special #648
- Hungarian különleges[ˈkylønlɛɡɛʃ] #579
- Indonesian khusus/ˈxusus/ special, unique, particular #702
- Italian speciale/speˈt͡ʃa.le/ #767
- Korean 별[pjɘ(ː)ɭ] special, extraordinary, different, unusual #377
- Lithuanian ypatinga[iːpɐ¹ˈtʲɪŋɡɐ] special, especial, particular, peculiar #1,048
- Macedonian посебен[ˈpɔsɛbɛn] #1,293
- Malay istimewa/ˌistiˈmewa/ #667
- Malayalam പ്രത്യേക/prɐt̪jeːɡɐ/ #295
- Norwegian spesiell/spəsɪˈɛl/ #1,214
- Persian خاص[xɒːs] #852
- Portuguese especial/is.pe.siˈaw/ #583
- Romanian special/spetˈʃjal/ #681
- Serbian poseban/pǒːseban/ #1,609
- Spanish especial/espeˈθjal/ #610
- Swedish speciell/spɛˈsɪɛl/ #1,404
- Tagalog espesyal/ʔespesˈjal/ special; exceptional; extraordinary #576
- Turkish özel/øˈzel/ #260
- Ukrainian особливий[ɔsɔˈbɫɪʋei̯] special, particular #2,215
- Urdu خاص/xɑːs/ #287
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) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.