Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 少女 | shōjo | [ɕo̞ːʑo̞] (narrow) [o̞to̞me̞] (narrow) |
| 女の子 | onna no ko | [õ̞nːa̠no̞ko̞] (narrow) [me̞no̞ko̞] (narrow) |
| 女子 | joshi | [d͡ʑo̞ɕi] (narrow) [me̞ko̞] (narrow) |
| 乙女 | otome | [o̞to̞me̞] (narrow) |
These terms all refer to a young female person, but they are used in very different ways. In everyday, casual speech, you will most often use 女の子. For more formal or categorical purposes, such as in statistics or school settings, 女子 is used. In literature or titles, 少女 is preferred to describe an idealized stage of adolescence. For highly poetic or stylized contexts, 乙女 is used to mean 'maiden'.
What does it mean word for word?
The informal term 女の子 is composed of 女 (woman/female), the possessive particle の and 子 (child).
Which one should you use?
女の子 is used in everyday conversation, whereas 少女 is more literary and often appears in book titles or to describe a specific stage of adolescence. 女子 is more formal and is commonly used as a prefix for categories, such as in the term for high school girl. 乙女 differs from the others by carrying a connotation of 'maiden' or 'virgin', making it suitable only for poetic contexts.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
女の子 is an informal, and somewhat archaic, way to say girl in daily speech. 女子 is used in formal contexts or to denote 'female' as a category. For a respectful and formal way to refer to a young lady from a well-to-do family, or to address a girl in a customer service setting, you may use お嬢さん. In pop culture, fashion or entertainment, the informal loanword ガール is also used.
How does it change in a sentence?
In modern Japanese, 女子 is frequently used as a prefix for groups or categories, such as in the word for high school girl.
How do you pronounce it?
shōjo
Did you know?
- The word 少女 is so strongly associated with a specific idealized stage of adolescence that it is the namesake for 'shōjo manga', a massive global genre of comics.
- The term 少女 has a direct relative in modern Mandarin Chinese, which also uses the same characters 少女 to describe the same stage of life.
- The term 乙女 refers to a 'maiden' and carries a strong connotation of virginity, making it far too heavy for a casual conversation about a child.
Examples in context
- この女の子は誰？Who is this girl?This sentence shows how to use 女の子 to ask who a girl is.Tatoeba #9069111 by bunbuku, translation #58453 by CK
- 少女は恐怖で震えた。The girl trembled with fear.This sentence uses 少女 to describe a girl trembling with fear.Tatoeba #146704 by bunbuku, translation #267857 by CK
- あの少女は誰ですか。Who's that girl?This sentence uses 少女 to ask who a certain girl is.Tatoeba #230853 by bunbuku, translation #68220 by CK
- この美しい 少女 は誰ですか？ (Kono utsukushii shōjo wa dare desu ka?)Who is this beautiful girl?
- あの 女の子 はだれですか？ (Ano onnanoko wa dare desu ka?)Who is that girl?
- お嬢さん、お待たせしました。 (Ojōsan, omatase shimashita.)Miss, I apologize for the wait.
- テレビで人気のある ガール バンドを見ましたか？ (Terebi de ninki no aru gāru bando o mimashita ka?)Have you seen the popular girl band on TV?
- 303 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Misaki and Hiroto are looking at an old photograph.
- 美咲 Misakiこの写真の少女は誰？Kono shashin no shōjo wa dare?Who is the girl in this photo?
- 大翔 Hiroto僕の妹だよ。Boku no imōto dayo.It's my younger sister.
- 美咲 Misaki可愛い少女だね。Kawaii shōjo dane.She's a cute girl.
- 大翔 Hirotoありがとう。Arigatō.Thank you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “girl” translations and entries 少女, 女の子, 女子, 乙女, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 女の子, 女子, 少女, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
