Translation guide
The English verb "consume" covers several distinct meanings. This guide helps learners choose the right Japanese expression for eating/drinking, using up resources, being overwhelmed by emotion, or destroying by fire.
To take food or drink into the body.
The most common and neutral verb for eating solid food.
He consumes bread every morning.
The standard verb for drinking liquids.
She consumes three cups of coffee a day.
A formal or technical term for intake or ingestion, often used in medical or nutritional contexts.
Consume the necessary calories per day.
A rough, masculine, or casual verb for eating. Can sound vulgar or animalistic.
Avoid in polite conversation; use 食べる instead.
I'm hungry; is there anything to consume?
To use fuel, energy, time, money, or other resources.
The most direct equivalent for consuming resources, energy, or goods.
This car consumes a lot of gasoline.
That task consumed a lot of time.
A general verb for 'use', often natural when talking about consuming time, money, or effort.
Emphasizes spending or expending resources, often time, money, or effort, sometimes with a nuance of waste.
To consume or deplete resources, often implying wear and tear or exhaustion of supplies.
War consumes a nation's resources.
To be completely absorbed or overwhelmed by a feeling, such as envy, guilt, or curiosity.
A common pattern meaning 'to be driven by (an emotion)'. Used with nouns like 嫉妬 (jealousy), 好奇心 (curiosity), 不安 (anxiety).
Consumed by jealousy, he ended up lying.
Means 'to be tormented by' a negative emotion like guilt or anxiety. Stronger than 駆られる.
She is consumed by guilt.
Literally 'become a captive of', used for being consumed by an interest or passion.
He was consumed by stamp collecting.
To be completely burned up or destroyed by flames.
To burn something completely, reducing it to ashes. Often used for buildings or large areas.
The fire consumed the entire village.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to burn out completely'. Focuses on the state of being consumed by fire.
A formal term meaning 'to be destroyed by fire', often used in news reports.
The warehouse was completely consumed by fire.
消費する is more specific to consumption (using up), while 使う is a general 'use'. For time, 使う is often more natural in casual speech. 消費する is preferred in technical or environmental contexts (e.g., energy consumption).
English 'consumed by envy' cannot be directly translated as 嫉妬を消費する. Use idiomatic patterns like 〜に駆られる or 〜に苛まれる.
This project consumed a lot of time.
彼は研究に全財産を費やした。
He consumed his entire fortune on research.
The house was consumed by fire in an hour.