How do you say "ball" in Japanese?

ボール

bōru

Noun Katakana

In Japanese, "ball" is ボール (bōru).

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Pronunciation

ボール is written using katakana. Romanised as bōru, it sounds roughly like "boh-roo" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Bōru is katakana for the English word 'ball'. Katakana marks this as a borrowed term rather than a native Japanese word.

Example sentence

新しいボールを買いました。

Atarashii Bōru wo kaimashita.

I bought a new ball.

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How to remember ボール

Katakana spells out 'ball' phonetically, making the English origin clear.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more sports words.

Questions about ボール

How do you pronounce ボール?

ボール is romanised as bōru. Say it roughly like "boh-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is ボール formal or casual?

ボール is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is ボール written in Japanese?

ボール is written using katakana. Bōru is katakana for the English word 'ball'.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Ball" in other languages

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