How do you say "shorts" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "shorts" is ショートパンツ (shōtopantsu). It is a noun.

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of shorts from Noun Town

Pronunciation

ショートパンツ is written in katakana. Romanised as shōtopantsu, it sounds roughly like "shoh-toh-pah-n-tsoo" to an English ear.

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Questions about ショートパンツ

How do you pronounce ショートパンツ?

ショートパンツ is romanised as shōtopantsu. Say it roughly like "shoh-toh-pah-n-tsoo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is ショートパンツ formal or casual?

ショートパンツ 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 ショートパンツ written in Japanese?

ショートパンツ is written using katakana. Katakana is typically used for words of foreign origin or to give emphasis.

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.