How do you say "beef" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "beef" is 牛肉 (gyūniku). It is a noun pronounced "gyoo-nee-koo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of beef from Noun Town

Pronunciation

牛肉 is written in kanji. Romanised as gyūniku, it sounds roughly like "gyoo-nee-koo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

牛肉が好きです。毎日食べます。

Gyūniku ga suki desu. Mainichi tabemasu.

I love beef. I eat it every day.

Usage notes

Gyūniku (牛肉) is the Japanese word for beef. Food vocabulary is among the most practical for daily life in Japan and is used constantly in markets, restaurants, and home cooking.

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Questions about 牛肉

How do you pronounce 牛肉?

牛肉 is romanised as gyūniku. Say it roughly like "gyoo-nee-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 牛肉 formal or casual?

牛肉 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 牛肉 written in Japanese?

牛肉 is written using kanji. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.