How to say “surprise” in 47 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.
- sorpresa/soɾˈpɾesa/ Spanish
- сюрприз[sʲʊrˈprʲis] Russian
- مفاجأة/mu.faː.d͡ʒa.ʔa/ Arabic
- आश्चर्य/ɑːʃ.t͡ʃəɾ.jᵊ/ Hindi
- έκπληξη/ˈekpliksi/ Greek
- ఆశ్చర్యము/aːɕt͡ɕaɾjamu/ Telugu
“surprise” in Spanish: sorpresa · German: überraschung · Russian: сюрприз · Arabic: مفاجأة · Hindi: आश्चर्य · Turkish: sürpriz · Greek: έκπληξη
It is commonest in Slovenian, where presenečenje is the 447th most used word.
Surprise in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans verrassing/fərˈrɐsəŋ/ #544
- Albanian çudi/t͡ʃuˈdi/ #1,563
- Arabic مفاجأة/mu.faː.d͡ʒa.ʔa/ #778
- Armenian յա/jɑ/ an interjection expressing surprise #633
- Bosnian iznenađenje/iznenad͡ʑěːɲe/ #1,041
- Bulgarian изненада[iznɛˈnadɐ] #840
- Catalan sorpresa[surˈpɾɛ.zə] #995
- Chinese 喔/wɔ⁵¹/ Particle conveying realization or surprise #115
- Croatian iznenađenje/iznenad͡ʑěːɲe/ #998
- Czech překvapení[ˈpr̝̊ɛkvapɛɲiː] #988
- Danish overraskelse/ˈʌwɐˌʁɑsɡəlsə/ #1,209
- Dutch verrassing/vərˈrɑsɪŋ/ #1,133
- English oh/oʊ/ Expression of surprise #56
- Esperanto surprizo/surˈprizo/ #1,110
- Estonian üllatus/ˈylːɑtus/ #885
- Finnish yllätys/ˈylːætys/ #1,216
- French eh/e/ signifying indifference or surprise #235
- Georgian განა[ɡ̊änä] adds a nuance of surprise to questions, and… #187
- German überraschung/yːbɐˈʁaʃʊŋ/ #1,202
- Greek έκπληξη/ˈekpliksi/ #904
- Hebrew הן/hin/ lo! as expressing surprise: behold, if, lo,… #255
- Hindi आश्चर्य/ɑːʃ.t͡ʃəɾ.jᵊ/ surprise, amazement #588
- Hungarian hmm/ɦmː/ Indicating thinking, pondering, surprise or… #1,323
- Icelandic au[ˈœiː] An exclamation of awe and surprise; wow #2,155
- Indonesian ah/ˈah/ oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay #276
- Korean 아이고[a̠iɡo̞] expression of surprise; oh, ouch #446
- Latvian pārsteigums/ˈpaːrsteiɡums/ #1,045
- Lithuanian siurprizas[sʲʊ̟rʲˈpʲrʲɪzɐs] #2,263
- Macedonian бе[bɛ] A particle expressing anger, frustration, or… #475
- Malay kejutan/kəd͡ʒutan/ shocker, surprise #880
- Norwegian overrasket/ˈoːvəˌrɑskət/ to surprise to feel surprise #1,236
- Persian اوه[ʔuːʱ] oh; an exclamation of surprise #43
- Polish ach/ˈax/ ah! expresses surprise, fear, pleasure,… #1,160
- Portuguese jesus/ʒeˈzu(j)s/ Used to express surprise, excitement or… #789
- Romanian surpriză/surˈprizə/ #1,110
- Russian сюрприз[sʲʊrˈprʲis] #1,391
- Serbian iznenađenje/iznenad͡ʑěːɲe/ #977
- Slovenian presenečenje/prɛsɛnéːt͡ʃɛnjɛ/ #447
- Spanish sorpresa/soɾˈpɾesa/ #965
- Swedish jaså/ˈjɑːsoː/ Expression of mild surprise; oh, really #488
- Tagalog naku/naˈku/ an exclamation expressing surprise, wonder,… #287
- Tamil அடடா/ɐɖɐɖɑː/ an exclamation of surprise #529
- Telugu ఆశ్చర్యము/aːɕt͡ɕaɾjamu/ surprise, wonder, astonishment #1,274
- Turkish sürpriz[sypɾiz] #946
- Ukrainian сюрприз[sʲʊrˈprɪz] #1,030
- Urdu حیرت/ɦɛː.ɾət̪/ astonishment; amazement; surprise; wonder #482
- Vietnamese thay[tʰaj˧˧] Used as a modifier to indicate surprise #315
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.