How do you say "fall" in Japanese?

落ちる

ochiru

Verb Kanji

In Japanese, "fall" is 落ちる (ochiru).

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Pronunciation

Ochiru has three light syllables, o-chi-ru, with a soft rolled r at the end rather than a hard English l sound.

Writing and usage

落ちる is written using kanji. It's a verb, 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

氷に落ちないように気をつけて。

koori ni ochi naiyouni kiwo tsukete.

Be careful not to fall on the ice.

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How to remember 落ちる

Ochiru sounds like 'oh, cheer, u', though there's nothing cheerful about slipping and falling on the ice.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 落ちる

How do you pronounce 落ちる?

Ochiru has three light syllables, o-chi-ru, with a soft rolled r at the end rather than a hard English l sound.

Is 落ちる formal or casual?

落ちる 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 落ちる written in Japanese?

落ちる is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as ochiru.

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.

"Fall" 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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