Translation guide
A single drop of rain. The most common Japanese word is 雨粒 (あまつぶ), but in everyday speech, people often use 雨の粒 (あめのつぶ) or simply 雨 (あめ) with context.
Referring to one individual drop of rain, as in 'a raindrop fell on my nose'.
The standard word for 'raindrop'. Natural in both spoken and written Japanese.
Talking about rain falling, often without focusing on individual drops. In English we might say 'raindrops' but Japanese often uses just 'rain'.
Japanese often uses the general word for 'rain' where English would say 'raindrops'. Context makes it clear.
In many natural Japanese sentences, you don't need to specify 'raindrop' explicitly. For example, 'I felt a raindrop' is often expressed as 「雨が一滴当たった」 (あめ が ひとしずく あたった) or simply 「雨に当たった」 (あめ に あたった).
雨粒が頬に落ちた。
A raindrop fell on my cheek.
屋根に当たる雨の音が好きだ。
I love the sound of raindrops on the roof.
Here 'raindrops' is naturally expressed as 'rain' (雨).
大きな雨粒が窓に当たった。
A big raindrop hit the window.
Literally 'drop of rain'. Slightly more colloquial and descriptive than 雨粒.
雨の粒が葉っぱの上で光っている。
Raindrops are glistening on the leaves.
A more technical or literary term for 'raindrop'. Often used in weather forecasts or scientific contexts.
雨滴の大きさを測定する。
Measure the size of raindrops.
Raindrops started to fall. / It started raining.
ポツポツと雨が降ってきた。
Raindrops began to fall sporadically.