How do you say "broom" in Japanese?

ほうき

houki

Noun Hiragana

In Japanese, "broom" is ほうき (houki).

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Pronunciation

Houki opens with a long 'ou', so it's 'hoh-ki', with the first half held and the second clipped short.

Writing and usage

ほうき is written using hiragana. It's a noun, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

彼はほうきで床を掃いた。

kareha houkide toko wo hai ta.

He swept the floor with a broom.

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How to remember ほうき

Houki sounds like 'hockey' without the final 'ey' -- swing the broom like a hockey stick to remember it.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about ほうき

How do you pronounce ほうき?

Houki opens with a long 'ou', so it's 'hoh-ki', with the first half held and the second clipped short.

Is ほうき formal or casual?

ほうき 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 ほうき written in Japanese?

ほうき is written using hiragana. Romanised, it reads as houki.

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.

"Broom" in other languages

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

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. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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