How do you say "roof" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "roof" is 屋根 (yane). It is a noun pronounced "yah-neh".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

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

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.

Usage notes

Yane (屋根) means roof in Japanese. This noun describes a feature or object found in indoor or outdoor environments.

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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. 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.