How do you say "sing" in Japanese?

歌う

utau

Verb Kanji

In Japanese, "sing" is 歌う (utau).

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Pronunciation

Utau flows in three light syllables, u-ta-u, said smoothly with a gentle rise and fall, fitting for a word about singing.

Writing and usage

歌う is written using kanji. It's a verb, 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

彼らは合唱団で一緒に歌います。

karera ha gasshoudan de isshoni utai masu.

They sing together in the choir.

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How to remember 歌う

Utau contains 'uta', meaning song, so singing is literally doing the uta, the song, out loud.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 歌う

How do you pronounce 歌う?

Utau flows in three light syllables, u-ta-u, said smoothly with a gentle rise and fall, fitting for a word about singing.

Is 歌う formal or casual?

歌う 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 歌う written in Japanese?

歌う is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as utau.

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.

"Sing" 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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