How do you say "drink" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "drink" is 飲む (nomu). It is a verb pronounced "noh-moo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

飲む is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as nomu, it sounds roughly like "noh-moo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

私は飲むことが好きです。

Watashi wa nomu koto ga suki desu.

I enjoy drinking.

Usage notes

飲む means to drink in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (飲みます) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 飲む

How do you pronounce 飲む?

飲む is romanised as nomu. Say it roughly like "noh-moo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 飲む formal or casual?

飲む is the plain (dictionary) form, used in casual speech and in dictionaries. For polite situations, verbs take a different ending, typically -masu. In Noun Town the game always shows the dictionary form.

How is 飲む written in Japanese?

飲む is written using kanji and hiragana. 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.