Translation guide
This entry covers ways to express that something is destroyed or damaged by fire in Japanese. It includes common verbs, nouns, and phrases for burning down, being consumed by flames, and fire-related destruction.
Expressing that a building or structure is completely destroyed by fire.
Means 'to be completely burned down'. Used for buildings and structures. Intransitive verb.
その家は火事で全焼した。
The house was completely destroyed by fire.
Means 'to be destroyed by fire', often used in formal or written contexts. Can refer to buildings, documents, etc.
火災で多くの建物が焼失した。
Many buildings were destroyed by fire in the blaze.
General intransitive verb meaning 'to burn' or 'to be burned'. Can imply destruction by fire depending on context.
家が焼けてしまった。
The house burned down.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to burn' or 'to be on fire'. Focuses on the process of burning rather than the result of destruction.
建物が激しく燃えている。
The building is burning fiercely.
Expressing that someone or something causes destruction by fire.
Transitive verb meaning 'to burn' or 'to set fire to'. Can be used for intentional destruction.
彼は書類を全部焼いた。
He burned all the documents.
Transitive verb meaning 'to burn' or 'to set on fire'. Often used for deliberate burning.
Means 'to burn down completely' or 'to raze by fire'. Emphasizes thorough destruction.
Referring to the event or result of fire destruction as a noun.
General noun meaning 'fire' or 'conflagration', often implying destruction.
その火災で多くの家が失われた。
Many homes were lost in the fire.
Noun meaning 'destruction by fire', often used in formal reports.
Noun meaning 'complete destruction by fire', typically for buildings.
Describing something being engulfed and destroyed by fire, often with dramatic nuance.
Literally 'to be enveloped in flames'. Conveys the image of being consumed by fire.
建物は炎に包まれた。
The building was engulfed in flames.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to become a sea of fire', used for widespread destruction.
街は火の海と化した。
The town was reduced to a sea of fire.
Both mean 'to burn', but 焼ける often implies damage or destruction by fire (e.g., food being cooked/grilled, skin sunburned, buildings burned down), while 燃える focuses on the active burning process with flames. For destruction by fire, 焼ける is more common when the result is emphasized.
Avoid directly translating 'destruction by fire' as 火による破壊. While grammatically correct, it sounds unnatural. Use specific verbs like 焼失する or nouns like 火災 instead.
図書館の焼失は大きな損失だった。
The destruction of the library by fire was a great loss.
戦争で多くの歴史的建造物が焼失した。
Many historical buildings were destroyed by fire in the war.
They burned down the old house.
敵は村を焼き払った。
The enemy burned the village to the ground.
資料の焼失を防ぐ。
Prevent the destruction of materials by fire.
その工場は全焼した。
The factory was completely destroyed by fire.