Translation guide
In Japanese, the word for cooked rice is ご飯 (gohan), which also means 'meal' in general. The specific term for cooked rice as a food is ご飯, while uncooked rice is 米 (kome). This guide covers how to refer to cooked rice in various contexts.
Referring to cooked rice as a dish or food item.
The most common and natural word for cooked rice. It is polite and used in everyday conversation. Can also mean 'meal' in general.
ご飯を炊いてください。
Please cook the rice.
今日のご飯は美味しい。
Today's rice is delicious.
A more casual or masculine way to say cooked rice. Often used in informal settings or by men. Can sound rough if used in polite contexts.
飯を食いに行こう。
Let's go eat (rice/meal).
Loanword from English, used in restaurants or Western-style dishes. Often refers to a serving of plain rice on a plate.
カレーライスをください。
I'll have curry and rice.
Referring to rice in the context of a meal, often as a staple.
Again, ご飯 is the standard term. It can be used to ask for rice or talk about it as part of a meal.
ご飯のおかわりはいかがですか。
Would you like another serving of rice?
Polite expressions used when serving rice to others.
The verb よそう means to serve rice into a bowl. It is a specific action for rice.
お母さんがご飯をよそってくれた。
My mother served me rice.
ご飯 (gohan) refers to cooked rice, while 米 (kome) refers to uncooked rice grains. Use ご飯 when talking about the food on your plate, and 米 when discussing rice as an ingredient or crop.
ご飯 can also mean 'meal' in general. For example, 朝ご飯 (asagohan) means breakfast. Context usually makes it clear whether you mean rice or a meal.