黒オオカミ
kuro ōkami
The English phrase 'black wolf' is translated into Japanese as 黒オオカミ (kuro ōkami).
黒オオカミ is used to refer to a wolf that has black fur.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form 黒オオカミ uses the noun kuro (black) as a prefix. However, it is also grammatically correct to use the adjective kuroi (black) to form 黒いオオカミ when describing a black wolf.
How do you pronounce it?
kuro ōkami
Did you know?
- The word オオカミ (wolf) is thought by some linguists to be related to the Japanese word おおかみ, which can mean 'great deity' or 'divine spirit' when written with different characters. This reflects the ancient cultural status of the wolf in Japan.
- The native Japanese wolf, the ニホンオオカミ, is extinct, meaning any 黒オオカミ seen in Japan today is an introduced species or a captive animal.
- In Japanese, the word for 'wolf', オオカミ, is often written in Katakana instead of Kanji. This is a common convention for animals in scientific or biological contexts to make the word stand out visually.
Examples in context
- 黒オオカミはとても強そうです。Kuroookami wa totemo tsuyosou desu.The black wolf looks very strong.
- 絵本に黒オオカミが登場します。Ehon ni kuroookami ga toujou shimasu.A black wolf appears in the picture book.
- 森の中に黒オオカミがいるかもしれません。Mori no naka ni kuroookami ga iru kamoshiremasen.There might be a black wolf in the forest.
Example conversation
Yota and Himari are looking at a book about animals.
- 陽太 Yota見て、この黒オオカミはすごいね。mite, kono kuro ookami wa sugoi ne.Look, this black wolf is amazing.
- 陽葵 Himari本当に！毛の色がとてもきれいだね。hontou ni! ke no iro ga totemo kirei da ne.Really! The color of its fur is very beautiful.
- 陽太 Yota黒オオカミはどこに住んでいるの？kuro ookami wa doko ni sunde iru no?Where do black wolves live?
- 陽葵 Himari本に書いてあるから、一緒に読もう。hon ni kaite aru kara, issho ni yomou.It's written in the book, so let's read it together.
