How do you say "beer" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "beer" is ビール (bīru). It is a noun.

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of beer from Noun Town

Pronunciation

ビール is written in katakana. Romanised as bīru, it sounds roughly like "bee-roo" to an English ear.

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Questions about ビール

How do you pronounce ビール?

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

Is ビール formal or casual?

ビール 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 ビール written in Japanese?

ビール is written using katakana. Katakana is typically used for words of foreign origin or to give emphasis.

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.