How do you say "miner" in Japanese?

鉱夫

koufu

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "miner" is 鉱夫 (koufu).

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Pronunciation

Say kou-FU, two short syllables with a soft breathy fu, nothing like the single-syllable English 'miner'.

Writing and usage

鉱夫 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

鉱夫は深く地下を掘った。

koufu ha fukaku chika wo hotsu ta.

The miner dug deep underground.

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How to remember 鉱夫

Koufu sounds like a muffled cough underground, kou-fu, echoing through the dusty mine tunnels.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 鉱夫

How do you pronounce 鉱夫?

Say kou-FU, two short syllables with a soft breathy fu, nothing like the single-syllable English 'miner'.

Is 鉱夫 formal or casual?

鉱夫 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 鉱夫 written in Japanese?

鉱夫 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as koufu.

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.

"Miner" in other languages

Curated by Jack 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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