Translation guide
A social arrangement where each person pays for their own meal or activity, rather than one person treating the others.
To express that each person pays for their own share in a group dining or activity situation.
The most common and natural way to say 'splitting the bill equally' in Japanese. It literally means 'split account' and is used in casual and semi-formal settings.
今日は割り勘にしよう。
Let's go Dutch today.
割り勘でお願いします。
We'll pay separately, please.
Literally 'pay separately'. This is a clear and direct way to express that each person will pay for their own order, not necessarily splitting the total equally.
別々に払いましょう。
Let's pay separately.
A more explicit way to say 'each person pays for their own share'. It emphasizes individual responsibility and is often used when clarifying the arrangement beforehand.
自分の分は自分で払うってことでいい？
Is it okay if we each pay for our own?
You can combine 割り勘 with verbs to form natural phrases. 割り勘にする means 'decide to go Dutch', and 割り勘で means 'by going Dutch'.
みんなで割り勘することにした。
We decided to split the bill.
割り勘 implies splitting the total bill equally among all participants, regardless of what each person ordered. 別々に払う means each person pays exactly for what they ordered. In many casual situations, 割り勘 is the default assumption, but if you want to be precise, use 別々に払う.
割り勘だと私が多く払うことになるから、別々に払おう。
If we split equally, I'll end up paying more, so let's pay separately.
In Japan, it's common for one person (often the senior or host) to treat the group, especially in business settings. However, among friends or younger people, 割り勘 is very common. Explicitly suggesting 割り勘 beforehand is perfectly acceptable and avoids awkwardness.
夕食は割り勘にした。
We went Dutch on the dinner.
割り勘ですか？
Is it Dutch treat?