木
[kʲi]
In Japanese, 'trees' is translated as 木.
The word 木 refers to perennial plants with a single woody stem and branches supporting leaves. While it translates to both 'tree' and 'trees', the specific number of trees is determined by the context of the sentence. Additionally, the term can refer to wooden objects.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word 木 does not change its form to indicate plurality, so the same word is used for both a single tree and multiple trees.
Did you know?
- Japanese has a specific word, 木漏れ日, which describes the sunlight that filters through the leaves of 木. There is no single equivalent word for this phenomenon in English.
- The word 木 is used to name Thursday in the Japanese calendar, 木曜日. This is because the day is associated with the planet Jupiter, which is linked to the element of wood.
- When the character 木 is repeated three times as 森, it creates the word for 'forest'. Two of the same character combined as 林 means 'grove' or 'woods'.
Examples in context
- 猿は木に登る。Monkeys climb trees.This sentence is useful for describing monkeys climbing 木.Tatoeba #188723 by wat, translation #25868 by CK
- 熊は木に登れる。A bear can climb trees.This sentence is useful for describing the ability of a bear to climb 木.Tatoeba #8933556 by small_snow, translation #8933690 by CM
- 桜並木があるわ。There are cherry trees on both sides of the street.This sentence is useful for describing the presence of cherry trees (containing 木) along a street.Tatoeba #9985348 by small_snow, translation #4353143 by CK
- 127 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Kenta and Misaki are walking through a park.
- 美咲 Misakiあそこの大きな木は何という名前？Asoko no ookina ki wa nan to iu namae?What is the name of that big tree over there?
- 健太 Kentaあれはクヌギの木だよ。Are wa kunugi no ki dayo.That is a sawtooth oak tree.
- 美咲 Misaki葉っぱがとてもきれいね。Happa ga totemo kirei ne.The leaves are very beautiful.
- 健太 Kentaうん、秋になると色が変わるよ。Un, aki ni naru to iro ga kawaru yo.Yeah, they change color when autumn comes.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 木, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
