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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "painting" in Japanese?
絵画
kaiga
In Japanese, "painting" is 絵画 (kaiga).
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Pronunciation
Say kai-GA, two syllables with kai rhyming with 'sigh' and a short hard final ga.
Writing and usage
絵画 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
絵を描くことが彼女の一番の趣味です。
e wo egaku kotoga kanojo no ichiban no shumi desu.
Painting is her favourite hobby.
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How to remember 絵画
Kaiga starts with kai, meaning picture, and ga marks image - painting is quite literally picture-making.
Related words
- volleyball バレーボール bareebooru
- gymnastics 体操 taisou
- skating スケート sukeeto
- surfing サーフィン saafin
- diving ダイビング daibingu
- sailing セーリング seeringu
- chess チェス chesu
- puzzle パズル pazuru
- sculpture 彫刻 choukoku
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 絵画
How do you pronounce 絵画?
Say kai-GA, two syllables with kai rhyming with 'sigh' and a short hard final ga.
Is 絵画 formal or casual?
絵画 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 絵画 written in Japanese?
絵画 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as kaiga.
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.
"Painting" 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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