How do you say "chef" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "chef" is シェフ (shefu). It is a noun pronounced "sheh-foo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of chef from Noun Town

Pronunciation

シェフ is written in katakana. Romanised as shefu, it sounds roughly like "sheh-foo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

あのシェフはとても親切です。

Ano shefu wa totemo shinsetsu desu.

That chef is very kind.

Usage notes

Shefu (シェフ) is the Japanese word for chef. Job titles in Japanese use a variety of endings: shi (士) for licensed professionals, sha (者) for workers, while modern roles often use katakana loanwords.

Related words

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

Practice シェフ and hundreds more Japanese words in the game.

Buy on Steam

Questions about シェフ

How do you pronounce シェフ?

シェフ is romanised as shefu. Say it roughly like "sheh-foo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is シェフ formal or casual?

シェフ 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 シェフ written in Japanese?

シェフ 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.