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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner

How do you say "cheers" in Japanese?

乾杯

kanpai

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "cheers" is 乾杯 (kanpai).

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Pronunciation

Kanpai has a clean nasal n before pai, which rhymes with 'pie', so it comes out as kan-pie with a bright finish.

Writing and usage

乾杯 is written using kanji. 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

彼はグラスを掲げて乾杯を言った。

kareha gurasu wo kakage te kanpai wo itta.

He raised his glass and said cheers.

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How to remember 乾杯

Kanpai ends in 'pie', so imagine clinking glasses and shouting cheers right before digging into a slice of pie.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 乾杯

How do you pronounce 乾杯?

Kanpai has a clean nasal n before pai, which rhymes with 'pie', so it comes out as kan-pie with a bright finish.

Is 乾杯 formal or casual?

乾杯 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 乾杯 written in Japanese?

乾杯 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as kanpai.

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.

"Cheers" 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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