Translation guide
The English word 'char' has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common ones for learners: burning or blackening something, a type of tea, and a character in computing. It also notes a British English usage for tea and a cleaning job.
Expressing that something is partially burned, blackened, or reduced to charcoal.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to be burned, scorched, charred'. Used when something becomes blackened by fire or heat.
The toast got charred.
Transitive verb meaning 'to burn, scorch, char'. Used when someone or something causes charring.
He charred the steak.
Phrase meaning 'to be charred black, burnt to a cinder'. Emphasizes the result of being completely blackened.
The house was charred black by the fire.
Technical term meaning 'to carbonize, char'. Used in scientific or formal contexts.
Carbonize the wood.
Referring to tea, especially in British English where 'char' is slang for tea.
Referring to a character in text, programming, or data.
General word for a character (letter, digit, symbol).
What is this char?
Loanword from English, often used in computing contexts.
Specifically the 'char' data type in programming languages like C or Java.
This variable is of type char.
Referring to working as a cleaner, especially in British English where 'char' can mean a charwoman or to do charring.
When referring to a person in a story or movie, use 登場人物 (とうじょうじんぶつ) or キャラクター, not 文字. 文字 is only for written characters.
In Japanese, there is no direct slang equivalent. Simply use お茶 or 紅茶. The British usage is not widely understood in Japan.
Make us a char, will you?
One byte represents one char.