How do you say "dirty" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "dirty" is 汚れた (Yogoreta). It is a adjective pronounced "yoh-goh-reh-tah".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

汚れた is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as Yogoreta, it sounds roughly like "yoh-goh-reh-tah" to an English ear.

Example sentence

靴が泥で汚れています。

Kutsu ga doro de yogorete imasu.

The shoes are dirty with mud.

Usage notes

Yogoreta (汚れた) is the past-participle form of yogoreru (to get dirty). In natural speech, yogorete imasu is used to describe something currently dirty. Its opposite is kirei na (clean).

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Questions about 汚れた

How do you pronounce 汚れた?

汚れた is romanised as Yogoreta. Say it roughly like "yoh-goh-reh-tah" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 汚れた formal or casual?

汚れた is a na-adjective or noun-adjective. It is neutral in register and fits naturally in both casual and polite sentences. Add na before a noun, or use desu for a polite predicate.

How is 汚れた written in Japanese?

汚れた is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

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.