How do you say "university" in Japanese?

大学

daigaku

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "university" is 大学 (daigaku).

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Pronunciation

Pronounce dai-GA-ku, three syllables with dai rhyming with 'die' and a short clipped final ku.

Writing and usage

大学 is written using kanji. It's a noun, 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

大学では生物学を専攻しています。

daigaku deha seibutsugaku wo senkou shiteimasu.

She studies biology at university.

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How to remember 大学

Daigaku starts with dai, big, and gaku, study - university is literally big study, the next level after school.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 大学

How do you pronounce 大学?

Pronounce dai-GA-ku, three syllables with dai rhyming with 'die' and a short clipped final ku.

Is 大学 formal or casual?

大学 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 大学 written in Japanese?

大学 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as daigaku.

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.

"University" in other languages

Curated by Jack 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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