飲む
nomu
The Japanese phrase for "to drink" is 飲む (nomu).
飲む is used to describe taking a liquid into the mouth and swallowing it. Notably, this verb is also used when you are taking medicine.
Which one should you use?
While 飲む is the standard dictionary form, you can use the noun 飲み物 to refer to a "drink" itself.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb 飲む can be conjugated into several common forms: the plain past tense is 飲んだ, the negative form is 飲まない and the form expressing a desire to drink is 飲みたい.
How do you pronounce it?
nomu
Did you know?
- While 飲む is for liquids, the Japanese language has a separate verb 啜る specifically for 'sipping' or 'slurping', which is culturally encouraged when drinking certain types of tea or eating noodles.
- In Japan, the phrase 飲み会 (drinking party) is a vital social ritual where colleagues often drink together after work to build trust and harmony outside the strict hierarchy of the office.
- The phrase 飲み込む uses the verb 飲む to mean 'to swallow', but it is also used metaphorically to mean 'to understand' or 'to comprehend' a difficult concept.
Examples in context
- ビール飲む？Do you want to drink some beer?This sentence is useful for asking if someone wants to drink beer using 飲む.Tatoeba #11388430 by bunbuku, translation #6350783 by CK
- 何か飲むものある？Is there anything to drink?This sentence is useful for asking if there is anything to drink using 飲む.Tatoeba #8764356 by bunbuku, translation #1977241 by Spamster
- 彼女は飲むのが好きだ。She likes to drink.This sentence is useful for describing someone's preference using 飲む.Tatoeba #8532811 by small_snow, translation #3401191 by AlanF_US
- コーヒーを飲みますI drink coffee.
- 冷たいのみものを飲んだI drank a cold drink.
- 24 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hiroto and Himari are at a cafe.
- 大翔 Hiroto何を飲む？Nani o nomu?What will you drink?
- 陽葵 Himari私は紅茶を飲むね。Watashi wa kōcha o nomu ne.I'll drink black tea.
- 大翔 Hirotoいいな。僕もそれを飲むよ。Ii na. Boku mo sore o nomu yo.Nice. I'll drink that too.
- 陽葵 Himariじゃあ、注文しよう！Jaa, chūmon shiyō!Then, let's order!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 飲む, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
