How do you say "dirt" in Japanese?

土

tsuchi

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "dirt" is 土 (tsuchi).

Listen to the pronunciation:

Free Japanese learning game. No sign-up, play in browser. See all games

Pronunciation

土 is written using kanji. Romanised as tsuchi, it sounds roughly like "tsoo-chee" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Tsuchi is the basic kanji for earth, soil, or ground. It's the earth radical in hundreds of place-related characters and marks materials in construction vocabulary.

Example sentence

土の横に立ちました。

Tsuchi no yoko ni tachimashita.

I stood next to the dirt.

Test your Japanese knowledge in our free browser games.

How to remember 土

Tsuchi (土) looks like soil or three grains of sand sitting together. Simple strokes for simple earth.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more Japanese nouns.

Questions about 土

How do you pronounce 土?

土 is romanised as tsuchi. Say it roughly like "tsoo-chee" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 土 formal or casual?

土 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 土 written in Japanese?

土 is written using kanji. Tsuchi is the basic kanji for earth, soil, or ground.

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.

"Dirt" in other languages

Curated by Callan 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.

Noun Town language-learning game on PC, Mac and VR

The full experience

Noun Town on PC, Mac & VR

These browser games are just a taste. The full Noun Town is a bigger, deeper 3D world: explore a living town, talk to its characters and learn thousands of words in immersive VR, Mixed Reality, or on your computer. It's an award-winning game with 590+ reviews on Steam and 12 languages to learn.

See the full game ▶

Spot an error? Email us at contact@noun.town