How to say “top” in 41 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 Hebrew, where על is the 8th most used word.
- Afrikaans boonop on top, above #1,441
- Albanian majë tip, summit, top #1,415
- Arabic قمة top, peak, crown, highest point, apex, vertex #1,507
- Armenian կատար top, summit, peak #445
- Basque gara top, high #35
- Bengali উপরে on top of; above #217
- Bosnian vrh on top of #1,911
- Bulgarian върху on, on top of, over #327
- Catalan sobre on, on top of #119
- Chinese 上面 above; over; on top of #168
- Croatian vrh on top of #1,968
- English above Physically over; on top of; worn on top of,… #1,252
- Estonian peale onto, on top of #91
- Finnish päällä on, on top of, atop #800
- Georgian ზედა upper, top #977
- Greek κορυφή peak, summit, top, crest #1,643
- Hebrew על on, on top of #8
- Hindi ऊपर on top of, upon #223
- Indonesian baju #849
- Korean 위 above, upper, upside, top #965
- Latvian augšu top, upper part #1,448
- Macedonian врз on top of, atop #543
- Malay atas on, upon, on top of #140
- Malayalam ഉന്നത #1,826
- Norwegian toppen the top #1,320
- Persian سر on top, on #75
- Portuguese sobre on; atop; on top of #106
- Romanian din on, on top of #27
- Russian глава head, top, summit #2,480
- Serbian vrh on top of #1,834
- Slovak vrchol peak, summit, top #1,245
- Slovenian las hair on top of head #567
- Spanish encima on top of something #685
- Swedish på on, on top of; touching from above #11
- Tagalog ibabaw top; tip; apex #709
- Tamil அடுக்கு to stack, pile up one on top of another #1,291
- Telugu మీద above, on, upon, on the top of #118
- Turkish üstelik besides, on top of that, also, again #1,288
- Ukrainian майка undershirt, tank top #2,214
- Urdu اوپر on top #245
- Vietnamese áo #500
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.