How do you say "kindergarten" in Japanese?

幼稚園

youchien

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "kindergarten" is 幼稚園 (youchien).

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Pronunciation

Pronounce you-CHI-en, three syllables with you gliding like English 'yo' and a soft nasal en to close it.

Writing and usage

幼稚園 is written using kanji. 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

その小さな男の子は今年幼稚園に入りました。

sono chiisa na otokonoko ha konnen youchien ni iri mashita.

The little boy started kindergarten this year.

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How to remember 幼稚園

Youchien starts with you, childlike, and ends in en, garden - kindergarten is simply the little children's garden.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 幼稚園

How do you pronounce 幼稚園?

Pronounce you-CHI-en, three syllables with you gliding like English 'yo' and a soft nasal en to close it.

Is 幼稚園 formal or casual?

幼稚園 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 幼稚園 written in Japanese?

幼稚園 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as youchien.

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.

"Kindergarten" in other languages

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

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