How to say “try” in 43 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.
- intentando/ˌintenˈtando/ Spanish
- 試試/ʂɻ̩⁵¹ ʂɻ̩¹/ Chinese
- ניסה/niˈsa/ Hebrew
- փորձել/pʰoɾˈt͡sʰel/ Armenian
- ശ്രമിക്കുക/ʃrɐmikkjuɡɐ/ Malayalam
- спробувати[ˈsprɔbʊʋɐte] Ukrainian
“try” in Spanish: intentando · German: versuchen · Italian: prova · Portuguese: tentar · Chinese: 試試 · Turkish: dene
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where probeer is the 146th most used word.
Try in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans probeer/pruˈbiər/ to try #146
- Albanian përpiqem/pəɾˈpicem/ to try #713
- Arabic تحاول/taħaːwala/ to try hard, to finesse #293
- Armenian փորձել/pʰoɾˈt͡sʰel/ to try, to attempt #327
- Basque saiatu/s̺ai̯atu/ to try, to attempt #180
- Bosnian pokušaj/pôkuʃaːj/ attempt, try #796
- Bulgarian опитвам[oˈpitvɐm] to try #488
- Catalan prova[ˈpɾɔ.βə] to try out, to test #668
- Chinese 試試/ʂɻ̩⁵¹ ʂɻ̩¹/ to try #1,587
- Croatian pokušaj/pôkuʃaːj/ attempt, try #763
- Czech snaží[ˈsnaʒiː] to try #720
- Danish prøv/ˈpʁøwˀ/ to try #502
- Dutch probeer/proːˈbɪr/ to try, to attempt #355
- English avoid/əˈvɔɪd/ To try not to meet or communicate with; to… #1,949
- Esperanto provu/ˈprovu/ to try, attempt #441
- Estonian proovida/ˈproːvid̥ɑ/ to try, to attempt #871
- Finnish yritän/ˈyrɪtæn/ to try, attempt, endeavour/endeavor #362
- French essaie/e.sɛ/ to test, to try on #463
- German versuchen/fɛɐ̯ˈzuːxən/ to try, to attempt #470
- Greek προσπαθώ/pɾo.spaˈθo/ to attempt, try #551
- Hebrew ניסה/niˈsa/ to try, to attempt #729
- Hindi कोशिश/koː.ʃɪʃ/ effort, try #191
- Hungarian próbáltam[ˈproːbaːltɒm] to try #920
- Icelandic reyna[ˈreiːna] to try, attempt #159
- Indonesian berusaha/bəruˈsaha/ to try #401
- Italian prova/ˈprɔ.va/ to try, to try out, to test #536
- Lithuanian pabandyti[pɐbɐnʲ¹ˈdʲiːtʲɪ] to try, to attempt #949
- Macedonian обиди[ˈɔbidi] try, attempt #895
- Malayalam ശ്രമിക്കുക/ʃrɐmikkjuɡɐ/ to try #1,353
- Norwegian prøvde/ˈprœvdə/ to try #384
- Persian سعی[sæʔj] try, attempt #436
- Polish sądzę/ˈsɔn.d͡zɛ/ to judge; to try #415
- Portuguese tentar/tẽˈta(ʁ)/ to try, go for, attempt #206
- Romanian încerca/ɨn.t͡ʃerˈka/ to try, to attempt #684
- Russian попробовать[pɐˈprobəvətʲ] to test, to attempt, to try #1,145
- Serbian pokušaj/pôkuʃaːj/ attempt, try #758
- Slovak pokus/pɔkus/ try, attempt #792
- Slovenian poskusiti/pɔskùːsiti/ to try, attempt #671
- Spanish intentando/ˌintenˈtando/ to try, to attempt; especially: to strain or… #882
- Swedish försöker/ˈfœʂøːkɛr/ to attempt, to try #230
- Tagalog subukan/suˈbukan/ to try; to attempt; to try out #386
- Turkish dene/de.ˈne/ to try #990
- Ukrainian спробувати[ˈsprɔbʊʋɐte] to try, to attempt #946
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) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.