Translation guide
The English word "pot" covers several distinct objects and concepts. This guide helps learners choose the right Japanese word depending on what kind of pot they mean.
A deep container used for cooking, boiling, or stewing food.
The most common word for a cooking pot. Used for boiling, stewing, making soups, and hot pot dishes.
I make soup in a pot.
今夜は鍋料理にしよう。
Let's have a hot pot dish tonight.
A traditional iron pot or cauldron, often used for cooking rice or in historical contexts. Not for everyday modern pots.
釜でご飯を炊く。
Cook rice in a pot (traditional iron pot).
A container with a spout used for serving tea or coffee.
A loanword from English, commonly used for both teapots and coffee pots, especially modern or thermal ones.
ポットにお湯を入れてください。
Please put hot water in the pot.
A traditional Japanese teapot with a side handle, used for brewing green tea. Not for coffee.
Specifically a teapot, often Western-style with a handle and spout.
A container in which plants are grown.
The standard word for a flowerpot or plant pot.
植木鉢に花を植える。
Plant flowers in a pot.
A shorter, more casual term for a pot, often used in compounds or when context is clear.
この鉢は大きすぎる。
This pot is too big.
Slang term for marijuana.
The standard Japanese word for marijuana. Not slang, but neutral.
彼はマリファナを吸っていた。
He was smoking pot.
Formal or legal term for cannabis.
大麻取締法
Cannabis Control Act
A container used as a toilet, historically.
A child's potty or a chamber pot. Often used for toilet training.
子供におまるを使わせる。
Have the child use the potty.
General word for a toilet bowl or urinal, but can refer to a chamber pot in context.
The total amount of money bet in a card game or the prize in a lottery.
The money at stake in gambling; the pot.
ポーカーで賭け金が大きくなった。
The pot got big in the poker game.
Loanword for jackpot, used in lotteries or slot machines.
While ポット is used for teapots and coffee pots, it is not used for cooking pots. Use 鍋 (なべ) for that.
鍋 (なべ) is the everyday cooking pot. 釜 (かま) is a traditional iron cauldron, rarely used in modern kitchens except for specific dishes or rice cooking.
Brew tea in a teapot.
ティーポットに紅茶の葉を入れる。
Put tea leaves in the teapot.
In the past, they used pots as chamber pots.
I hit the jackpot!