Translation guide
The English word 'circular' can describe a shape, a movement, or a type of reasoning. This guide helps you choose the right Japanese expression depending on what you mean.
Describing something that has the form of a circle, such as a round table, a circular window, or a circular piece of paper.
The most common and neutral way to say 'circular' when referring to shape. It literally means 'circle-shaped'.
このテーブルは円形です。
This table is circular.
Light is coming in through the circular window.
A more casual, everyday word for 'round' or 'circular'. Often used for objects like balls, plates, or faces. It can also imply a softer, less perfect circle.
丸いテーブルを買いたい。
I want to buy a round table.
彼女は丸い顔をしている。
She has a round face.
Means 'circular' or 'ring-shaped', often used in technical or descriptive contexts, like a circular arrangement or formation.
選手たちは円状に並んだ。
The players lined up in a circle.
Describing a path or motion that goes around in a circle, like a circular route or a circular motion.
Literally 'draw a circle', this phrase is used for circular motion or tracing a circular path.
鳥が空に円を描いて飛んでいる。
The birds are flying in a circle in the sky.
彼は腕で円を描くように動かした。
He moved his arm in a circular motion.
Means 'to circulate' or 'to cycle'. Used for things that move in a circular or cyclical way, like air, water, or traffic.
このバスは市内を循環しています。
This bus runs on a circular route around the city.
空気が部屋の中を循環している。
The air is circulating in the room.
Used for a circular tour or route, often in gardens, museums, or sightseeing. Implies a designed circular path.
この庭園は回遊式になっている。
This garden is designed as a circular stroll garden.
Referring to a logical fallacy where the conclusion is assumed in the premise, or an argument that goes in circles.
The standard term for 'circular reasoning' or 'circular argument' in logic.
その主張は循環論法だ。
That argument is circular reasoning.
循環論法に陥らないように注意しなさい。
Be careful not to fall into circular reasoning.
A printed letter or notice sent to many people, like a company circular or a government circular.
A document circulated among a group, like an office memo or neighborhood notice. Often used with 回覧板 (circulation board).
回覧を回してください。
Please pass around the circular.
町内会の回覧板が来た。
The neighborhood association circular has arrived.
An official notice or directive, often from a government or company. More formal than 回覧.
A leaflet or flyer, often used for advertising. Can be considered a type of circular when distributed widely.
Literally 'going around in circles', this idiom describes a discussion or thought process that gets nowhere, similar to circular reasoning but more colloquial.
議論が堂々巡りで結論が出ない。
The discussion is going in circles and we can't reach a conclusion.
政府からの通達が各部署に送られた。
A circular from the government was sent to each department.
A supermarket circular was inserted in the newspaper.