How do you say "water" in Japanese?

水

mizu

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "water" is 水 (mizu).

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Pronunciation

水 is written using kanji. Romanised as mizu, it sounds roughly like "mee-zoo" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Mizu is one of the most basic kanji in Japanese, representing the element water. It appears as a radical in hundreds of other characters related to liquids and moisture.

Example sentence

部屋に水があります。

Heya ni Mizu ga arimasu.

There is a water in the room.

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How to remember 水

Mizu (水) looks like three droplets or ripples. The strokes evoke flowing liquid or rain falling.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more Japanese nouns.

Questions about 水

How do you pronounce 水?

水 is romanised as mizu. Say it roughly like "mee-zoo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 水 formal or casual?

水 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 水 written in Japanese?

水 is written using kanji. Mizu is one of the most basic kanji in Japanese, representing the element water.

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.

"Water" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

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