How do you say "grass" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "grass" is 芝生 (shibafu). It is a noun pronounced "shee-bah-foo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

芝生 is written in kanji. Romanised as shibafu, it sounds roughly like "shee-bah-foo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

芝生が見えます。

Shibafu ga miemasu.

I can see the grass.

Usage notes

Shibafu (芝生) means grass in Japanese. This noun describes a feature or object found in indoor or outdoor environments.

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Questions about 芝生

How do you pronounce 芝生?

芝生 is romanised as shibafu. Say it roughly like "shee-bah-foo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 芝生 formal or casual?

芝生 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 芝生 written in Japanese?

芝生 is written using kanji. 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.