Translation guide
The English verb "condense" has several distinct meanings. This guide helps learners choose the right Japanese expression depending on whether you mean making a liquid thicker, shortening a text, or summarizing the main points.
Express that a liquid (e.g., soup, milk, juice) is reduced in volume or made thicker by evaporation or boiling.
Transitive verb meaning to boil down a liquid to thicken or concentrate it. Commonly used in cooking.
Condense the sauce to thicken it.
Intransitive counterpart of 煮詰める. Describes the state of a liquid becoming condensed through boiling.
The soup condensed and the flavor became stronger.
Technical term for concentrating a liquid, often used in industrial or scientific contexts (e.g., condensed milk).
This factory condenses fruit juice.
Express that a piece of writing is reduced in length while keeping the essential content.
General verb for summarizing or condensing a text, speech, or idea into a shorter form.
Please condense this article into 200 characters.
Literally 'to shorten'. Can be used for condensing a text by cutting parts, but may imply physical shortening rather than summarizing.
May sound like you simply deleted parts rather than rewrote concisely.
Means 'compress'. Used for condensing data or text in a technical sense, like file compression.
Express the act of giving a concise summary of information, a story, or an argument.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to say in brief' or 'to summarize'. Very natural in spoken Japanese.
To condense it, the plan was canceled.
Common verb meaning 'to summarize' or 'to bring together'. Used for condensing ideas or information into a coherent whole.
Formal expression meaning 'to state concisely'. Suitable for presentations or writing.
煮詰める is used in everyday cooking for boiling down liquids like sauces or soups. 濃縮する is more technical and often refers to industrial processes (e.g., condensed milk is 濃縮乳).
The cookbook says 'condense the sauce'.
Condensed reconstituted juice is diluted with water.
English 'condense' in the sense of making a text shorter is not directly translated as 凝縮する (which means physical condensation like steam to water). Use 要約する or まとめる instead.
I condensed the report to half its length.
Please condense (compress) this file and send it.
要点をまとめて話してください。
Please condense the main points and tell me.
Please condense your conclusion.