ご飯
gohan
In Japanese, cooked rice is ご飯 (gohan).
The term ご飯 refers to rice that has been cooked by steaming or boiling. Beyond just the grain itself, it is frequently used as a common way to say a general "meal," such as breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Meaning: rice cooked by either steaming or boiling (non-idiomatic translations) (noun)
Which one should you use?
Use ご飯 when referring to cooked rice that is ready to eat, whereas 米 is used to refer to raw, uncooked rice grains.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In more urban or Western-influenced areas of Japan, you may encounter the term ライス.
How does it change in a sentence?
ご飯 is a mass noun and does not typically take a plural form in Japanese.
How do you pronounce it?
gohan
Did you know?
- While ご飯 means 'meal', the term ご飯粒 refers specifically to a single grain of cooked rice. In some traditional contexts, leaving a single ご飯粒 on your bowl is considered wasteful or unlucky.
- If someone asks you ご飯? (Rice/Meal?), they might not be offering you food, but rather asking if you have eaten yet as a way of greeting.
- The word ご飯 contains the honorific prefix ご, which transforms the simple word for 'meal' into a polite form. This reflects the deep cultural respect for rice as the essential foundation of Japanese life.
Examples in context
- ご飯はいらないよ。I don't want cooked rice.This sentence is useful for expressing that you do not want cooked rice using ご飯.Tatoeba #10690403 by small_snow, translation #5046362 by AlanF_US
- ごはんをたくさん食べたいI want to eat a lot of cooked rice.
- メニューにライスが付いていますか？Does the menu include cooked rice?
- 美味しいご飯を食べました。Oishii gohan o tabemashita.I ate delicious cooked rice.
- ご飯の量を確認してください。Gohan no ryou o kakunin shite kudasai.Please check the amount of cooked rice.
Example conversation
Yui and Yota are having breakfast together at home.
- 結衣 Yui陽太くん、ご飯のおかわりはある？Yota-kun, gohan no okawari wa aru?Yota, is there any more cooked rice?
- 陽太 Yotaもちろん、結衣ちゃん。あるよ。Mochiron, Yui-chan. Aru yo.Of course, Yui. There is.
- 結衣 Yuiありがとう。すごく美味しそう！Arigatou. Sugoku oishisou!Thank you. It looks delicious!
- 陽太 Yotaさあ、温かいうちに食べて。Saa, atatakai uchi ni tabete.Come on, eat it while it's warm.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ご飯, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
