How to say “sweet” in 46 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.
- dulce/ˈdulθe/ Spanish
- 甜蜜/tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ mi⁵¹/ Chinese
- 과자[kwa̠d͡ʑa̠] Korean
- मिठाई/mɪ.ʈʰɑː.iː/ Hindi
- ტკბილი[tʼkʼbili] Georgian
- անուշ/ɑˈnuʃ/ Armenian
“sweet” in Spanish: dulce · German: süß · Italian: dolce · Portuguese: doce · Chinese: 甜蜜 · Korean: 과자 · Hindi: मिठाई · Turkish: tatlı
It is commonest in Tamil, where இனிய is the 230th most used word.
Sweet in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans lief/ˈlif/ nice, sweet #162
- Albanian ëmbël/ˈəmbəl/ #712
- Arabic حلوى/ħalwaː/ candy, confection, sweet pastry #1,028
- Armenian անուշ/ɑˈnuʃ/ #482
- Basque gozo/ɡos̻o/ #1,180
- Bengali মিষ্টি/miʃʈi/ #610
- Bosnian sladak/slâdak/ #1,323
- Bulgarian сладък[ˈsɫadɐk] #1,393
- Catalan dolç[ˈdols] #1,782
- Chinese 甜蜜/tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ mi⁵¹/ sweet; sweet-tasting #1,081
- Croatian sladak/slâdak/ #1,521
- Danish søde/søːdə/ #634
- Dutch lieverd/ˈli.vərt/ a person who is kind or sweet; a sweetheart #596
- English honey/ˈhʌni/ A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced… #505
- Esperanto dolĉa/ˈdolt͡ʃa/ sweet, having a taste similar to sugar and… #1,628
- Estonian magus/ˈmɑɡ̊us/ #1,872
- French gentil/ʒɑ̃.ti/ kind, sweet #628
- Georgian ტკბილი[tʼkʼbili] #1,265
- German süß/zyːs/ #992
- Greek γλυκιά/ɣliˈca/ sweet in taste #530
- Hebrew מתוק/maˈtok/ Sweet: having a pleasant taste, akin to that… #652
- Hindi मिठाई/mɪ.ʈʰɑː.iː/ sweet, dessert #1,628
- Hungarian édes[ˈeːdɛʃ] #621
- Icelandic sætur[ˈsaiːtʏr] sweet, saccharine, sugary #834
- Indonesian manis/ˈmanis/ #593
- Italian dolce/ˈdol.t͡ʃe/ #966
- Korean 과자[kwa̠d͡ʑa̠] sweet; confection #2,078
- Lithuanian mielas[ˈmʲîə.ɫ̪ɐs̪] nice, sweet #530
- Macedonian сладок[ˈsɫadɔk] #1,078
- Malay manis/ˈmanis/ #800
- Malayalam മധുരം/mɐd̪(ʱ)uɾɐm/ a sweet, dessert #950
- Norwegian søtt/ˈsœt/ #1,359
- Polish słodki/ˈswɔt.ki/ #2,210
- Portuguese doce/ˈdo.si/ sweet, sugary #1,435
- Romanian dulce/ˈdult͡ʃe/ #1,155
- Russian милый[ˈmʲiɫɨj] dear, sweet #774
- Serbian sladak/slâdak/ #1,335
- Slovak sladký/slatkiː/ #1,385
- Slovenian sladek/slàːdək/ #1,362
- Spanish dulce/ˈdulθe/ #901
- Swedish söt/søːt/ #1,014
- Tagalog matamis/mataˈmis/ #1,395
- Tamil இனிய/ɪnɪjɐ/ sweet, pleasant, delightful #230
- Telugu మిఠాయి/ˈmiʈʰaːji/ #700
- Turkish tatlı/tatˈɫɯ/ sweet; having a pleasant taste, akin to that… #537
- Vietnamese ngọt[ŋɔt̚˧˨ʔ] #1,343
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.