Translation guide
The English word "article" has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common ones for learners: a piece of writing, an item/object, a clause in a legal document, and the grammatical term. The grammatical meaning is a specialized concept that differs greatly between English and Japanese.
Referring to a non-fiction piece of writing published in a periodical or online.
The most common and general word for a news article, magazine article, or online article.
This newspaper article is very interesting.
She wrote an article about the incident.
Refers to an academic article, thesis, or scholarly paper. Not used for general news articles.
He published an article in a scientific journal.
A column, a regular article by a specific writer. Borrowed from English.
His column is published every Friday.
Referring to a single object, especially in commercial or legal contexts.
A general word for goods, articles, or items. Often used in shops or when talking about tangible things.
This store sells various articles.
Refers to merchandise, products, or articles for sale. Common in business contexts.
A formal term for goods or articles, often used in legal or official documents.
Referring to a specific numbered section of a law, treaty, or contract.
Referring to the part of speech that marks definiteness or indefiniteness.
Japanese does not have grammatical articles like 'a' or 'the'. In most cases, you simply do not translate them. The meaning is inferred from context.
I saw a dog. / I saw the dog.
When you need to emphasize 'the' (a specific item already known), you can use その (that). But it's not a direct equivalent and is often omitted.
The book was interesting. (that book we both know about)
To express 'a certain' or 'some', you can use ある. This is closer to the indefinite article but is only used when the identity is unknown or unimportant.
One day (a certain day), he suddenly appeared.
English articles have no direct equivalent in Japanese. Adding words like 一つ (one) or その (that) every time will sound unnatural. Rely on context instead.
記事 (kiji) is for general articles in newspapers, magazines, or websites. 論文 (ronbun) is strictly for academic papers. Using 論文 for a news article would be incorrect.
新商品の記事をカタログに載せる。
Put an article about the new product in the catalog.
契約書には物品のリストが含まれている。
The contract includes a list of articles.
契約書のこの条項は不明瞭だ。
This article of the contract is unclear.