How do you say "sweet" in Japanese?

甘い

amai

Adjective Kanji

In Japanese, "sweet" is 甘い (amai).

Listen to the pronunciation:

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Pronunciation

Say ah-MY, just two syllables, mai rhymes with 'my' and gets a touch more emphasis than the opening a.

Writing and usage

甘い is written using kanji. It's a adjective, 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

マンゴーは熟して甘い。

mangoo ha jukushi te amai.

The mango is ripe and sweet.

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How to remember 甘い

Amai sounds like 'a, my', picture tasting a dessert so sweet you gasp 'a, my goodness' with the first bite.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 甘い

How do you pronounce 甘い?

Say ah-MY, just two syllables, mai rhymes with 'my' and gets a touch more emphasis than the opening a.

Is 甘い formal or casual?

甘い 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 甘い written in Japanese?

甘い is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as amai.

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.

"Sweet" 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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