Word in Japanese：What is the Difference between the Meaning of 言葉 vs 単語 in Japanese?

Published on October 17, 2020•Keith

There are several words related to speaking in Japanese. Out of those, two common words, 言葉ことば and 単語たんご both mean word. If you want to say word in Japanese you will usually pick one of these two.

There is an overlap between these when you translate them from Japanese to English. But they are not exactly the same. So, keep reading to find out the meaning of the words.

The Meaning of 言葉

言葉ことば is the general word used when talking about words. If you are referring to a word that someone said or words you heard you would say 言葉.

More generally, 言葉 also refers to the way someone is speaking. Meaning, the choices of words someone uses when they speak.

You can also say 言葉 when referring to a language. So, the language is spoken in a country. For example, Japanese which is spoken in Japan.

日本にほんで話はなされている言葉は日本語にほんごです
Japanese is the language spoken in Japan

考かんがえを言葉に表あらわす
to express one’s thoughts in words

The Meaning of 単語

The Japanese language restricts how you use 単語たんご more than it does 言葉ことば. You use 単語 when you are talking about words themselves. For example, words in a sentence or words in a vocabulary list.

「言葉」という単語が好き
I like the word, “word”

What is the Difference between 言葉and 単語

The word 言葉 is the word to talk about words in general. That is the actual words someone is speaking or writing.

In contrast, 単語 is more of a grammatical word. It refers to words as individual blocks that make up a language.

These words are close and can be interchangeable much of the time though. If you would like to learn more Japanese words then check some of my other posts.