How do you say "roof" in Japanese?

屋根

yane

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "roof" is 屋根 (yane).

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Pronunciation

屋根 is written using kanji. Romanised as yane, it sounds roughly like "yah-neh" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Yane combines the house radical (roof symbol) with a phonetic marker. It's fundamental to architecture vocabulary and appears frequently in compound words for building types.

Example sentence

子供たちは屋根の周りで遊んでいます。

Kodomotachi wa Yane no mawari de asonde imasu.

The children are playing around the roof.

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How to remember 屋根

The left side is the roof radical itself, used in many house-related kanji. Picture a peaked roof shape on top of a house.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more Japanese nouns.

Questions about 屋根

How do you pronounce 屋根?

屋根 is romanised as yane. Say it roughly like "yah-neh" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 屋根 formal or casual?

屋根 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 屋根 written in Japanese?

屋根 is written using kanji. Yane combines the house radical (roof symbol) with a phonetic marker.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

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"Roof" in other languages

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