ラーメン
rāmen[ɾa̠ːmẽ̞ɴ]
The English phrase "ramen" is ラーメン in Japanese.
ラーメン refers to a Chinese-Japanese style of soup noodles made with wheat and various ingredients. There are many regional styles, such as さっぽろラーメン (Sapporo ramen), which is a miso-based style from Sapporo, Hokkaido and 博多ラーメン (Hakata ramen), a style from the Hakata district in Fukuoka. Within that region, you may specifically encounter 豚骨ラーメン (Tonkotsu ramen), which is a ramen made from pork bone broth. Another common variety is 東京ラーメン (Tokyo ramen), which typically features a broth based on soy sauce or salt.
Meaning: soup noodles of wheat, with various ingredients (Chinese-Japanese style) (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
rāmen
Did you know?
- In Japan, it is culturally acceptable and even encouraged to slurp your ラーメン loudly. This helps cool the noodles and signals to the chef that you are enjoying the meal.
- There is a long-standing linguistic joke in Japan that ラーメン might actually come from the German word Rahmen, meaning 'frame' or 'border', due to how the word sounds.
- In many ラーメン shops, you do not order from a waiter but instead use a ticket vending machine to pay and select your meal before sitting down.
Examples in context
- ラーメン行こう。Let's go out for some ramen.This sentence is useful for suggesting going out for ramen.Tatoeba #9582954 by small_snow, translation #9483348 by DJ_Saidez
- ラーメン食べたい。I want to eat ramen.This sentence is useful for expressing a desire to eat ramen.Tatoeba #3635276 by tommy_san, translation #3777897 by CK
- 今度ラーメン行こう。Let's go out for some ramen sometime soon.Tatoeba #9483347 by small_snow, translation #9582945 by DJ_Saidez
- Ramen o choudai. (ラーメンをちょうだい。)Give me ramen, please.
- Ramen o katte kuru. (ラーメンを買ってくる。)I'll go buy ramen.
- Sumimasen, Sapporo ramen o kudasai. (すみません、さっぽろラーメンをください。)Excuse me, I would like a Sapporo ramen, please.
- 46 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yui and Kenta are deciding what to eat for lunch.
- 結衣 Yuiお昼に何を食べる？Ohiru ni nani o taberu?What are we eating for lunch?
- 健太 Kenta僕はラーメンがいいな。Boku wa rāmen ga ii na.I'd like some ramen.
- 結衣 Yuiいいね、あのお店に行こう。Ii ne, ano omise ni ikou.Sounds good, let's go to that shop.
- 健太 Kenta賛成！すぐに行こう。Sansei! Sugu ni ikou.I agree! Let's go right now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “ramen” translations and entries ラーメン, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ラーメン, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
