How do you say "garlic" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "garlic" is にんにく (ninniku). It is a noun.

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of garlic from Noun Town

Pronunciation

にんにく is written in hiragana. Romanised as ninniku, it sounds roughly like "nee-n-nee-koo" to an English ear.

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Questions about にんにく

How do you pronounce にんにく?

にんにく is romanised as ninniku. Say it roughly like "nee-n-nee-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is にんにく formal or casual?

にんにく 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 にんにく written in Japanese?

にんにく is written using hiragana. Hiragana is the basic Japanese syllabary used for native words and grammatical elements.

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.