How to say “start” in 51 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.
- empezar/empeˈθaɾ/ Spanish
- 開始/kʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ ʂɻ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ Chinese
- 시작[ˈɕʰi(ː)d͡ʑa̠k̚] Korean
- άρχισε/ˈarçiˌse/ Greek
- התחיל/(h)itˈχil/ Hebrew
- শুরু/ʃuɾu/ Bengali
“start” in Spanish: empezar · French: début · German: anfang · Portuguese: começar · Chinese: 開始 · Korean: 시작 · Greek: άρχισε
It is commonest in Bengali, where শুরু is the 110th most used word.
Start in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian fillim[fɪˈɫim] start, beginning #468
- Arabic بداية/bi.daː.ja/ beginning, start #614
- Armenian սկիզբ/skizb/ beginning, start; commencement #669
- Basque hasi/has̺i/ to begin, start #120
- Bengali শুরু/ʃuɾu/ start, beginning #110
- Bosnian počinje/ˈpotʃɪɲe/ to begin, start, commence #860
- Bulgarian започна[zɐˈpɔt͡ʃnɐ] to begin, to start, to commence #455
- Catalan començar[ku.mənˈsa] to begin, to start something #322
- Chinese 開始/kʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ ʂɻ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to start; to begin; to commence #345
- Croatian početi/pǒt͡ʃeːti/ to begin, start, commence #718
- Czech začít[ˈzat͡ʃiːt] to begin, to start #645
- Danish begynder/beɡønər/ to start, begin, commence, open #488
- Dutch start/stɑrt/ to start, begin #1,532
- English beginning/bɪˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/ To start, to initiate or take the first step… #1,043
- Esperanto komencis/koˈment͡sis/ to start, begin #562
- Estonian hakkama/ˈhɑkːɑmɑ/ to start, begin #292
- Finnish alkaa/ˈɑlkɑːˣ/ to begin, start, initiate, set in, be… #352
- French début/de.by/ start, beginning #700
- Galician comezar/komeˈθaɾ/ to start, begin, commence #630
- Georgian დავიწყოთ[d̥ävit͡sʼχʼo̞tʰ] to begin, to start, to initiate #565
- German anfang/ˈʔanfaŋ/ start, beginning, origin #976
- Greek άρχισε/ˈarçiˌse/ to start, begin #921
- Hebrew התחיל/(h)itˈχil/ to start, to begin #693
- Hungarian kezd[ˈkɛzd] to begin, start #947
- Icelandic byrjun[ˈpɪrjʏn] beginning, outset, start #1,117
- Indonesian awal/ˈawal/ beginning, start #491
- Italian cominciare/ko.minˈt͡ʃa.re/ to begin, to start, to commence, to set about #1,425
- Korean 시작[ˈɕʰi(ː)d͡ʑa̠k̚] start, beginning #588
- Latvian sākt[sâːkt] to begin, to start #690
- Lithuanian pradėti[prɐˈd̪ʲêːt̪ʲɪ] to begin, to start #437
- Macedonian прво[ˈpr̩vɔ] first, firstly, to start with #261
- Malay mula/ˈmula/ the beginning, the start #297
- Malayalam ഓൺ/oːɳ/ on, start #1,058
- Norwegian begynner/bəˈjʏnər/ to begin, start #367
- Persian آغاز[ʔɒː.ɢɒ́ːz] beginning, start #1,087
- Polish zacząć/ˈza.t͡ʂɔɲt͡ɕ/ to start, to begin #837
- Portuguese começar/ko.meˈsa(ʁ)/ to start; to begin; to commence #377
- Romanian începutul/ˌɨntʃeˈputul/ beginning, start #1,564
- Russian начать[nɐˈt͡ɕætʲ] to begin, to start, to commence #757
- Serbian počinje/ˈpotʃɪɲe/ to begin, start, commence #789
- Slovak začať/zat͡ʃac/ to start, to begin #409
- Slovenian začeti/zat͡ʃèːti/ to begin, to start #566
- Spanish empezar/empeˈθaɾ/ to start, begin, to get started #614
- Swedish börjar/ˈbœrjar/ to begin; to start #277
- Tagalog simula/simuˈlaʔ/ start; beginning #480
- Tamil துவங்கு/t̪ʊʋɐŋɡɯ/ to commence, start, begin #1,048
- Telugu ప్రారంభించారు/ˈpraːranˌbʰincaːru/ to begin, start #297
- Turkish başladı/baʃɫaˈdɯ/ to begin, to start #435
- Ukrainian да[da] Used as an emphasiser, usually at the start… #25
- Urdu آغاز/ɑː.ɣɑːz/ #575
- Vietnamese khởi[xəːj˧˩] to start; to begin; to initiate #994
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.