How do you say "drum" in Japanese?

ドラム

doramu

Noun Katakana

In Japanese, "drum" is ドラム (doramu).

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Pronunciation

Doramu is doh-rah-moo, three short even beats, nothing like the single punchy English syllable.

Writing and usage

ドラム is written using katakana. 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

彼は太鼓を一定のリズムで叩いた。

kareha taiko wo ittei no rizumu de tatai ta.

He beat a steady rhythm on the drum.

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How to remember ドラム

Where English says 'drum' in one thud, Japanese spreads it into three soft taps, doh-rah-moo.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about ドラム

How do you pronounce ドラム?

Doramu is doh-rah-moo, three short even beats, nothing like the single punchy English syllable.

Is ドラム formal or casual?

ドラム 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 ドラム written in Japanese?

ドラム is written using katakana. Romanised, it reads as doramu.

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.

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

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