Translation guide
The English word 'recovery' covers several distinct situations: getting better after illness or injury, bouncing back economically or emotionally, retrieving lost data or objects, and regaining a previous state. Japanese uses different words for each, and the most natural choice depends on what is being recovered and the context.
Expressing that someone's health is improving after being sick or hurt.
General term for recovery of health, strength, or condition. Used for both physical and mental recovery.
He recovered from his illness.
It takes time to recover your strength.
Intransitive verb meaning 'to heal' or 'to get better'. Used for specific injuries or illnesses.
My cold got better.
Has the wound healed yet?
Similar to 回復 but often implies a more complete or pleasant recovery. Slightly more formal or literary.
He is recovering toward a full cure.
Talking about recovery of the economy, stock market, or one's spirits.
Getting back something that was lost, deleted, or stolen.
Used for restoring systems, data, or services to their original state. Common in IT contexts.
We succeeded in recovering the data.
To collect or retrieve physical objects, such as lost items or debts.
To take back or regain something lost, such as money, health, or trust.
Regaining a good position after a mistake or disadvantage.
Overcoming dependence on substances or psychological problems.
回復 (kaifuku) is for health, economy, or abstract states. 復旧 (fukkyū) is for systems, data, or infrastructure returning to a previous working state. Do not use 復旧 for personal health.
Avoid directly translating 'recovery' as リカバリー (rikabarī) in most contexts. The loanword is mainly used in IT (data recovery) or sports (recovery run), and can sound unnatural elsewhere.
He got over his heartbreak and recovered his spirits.
He recovered from his failure.
We are working on system recovery.
落とした財布を回収した。
I recovered my dropped wallet.
He recovered the lost trust.
彼は遅れを挽回した。
He recovered from the delay.
うつ病からの回復には支援が必要だ。
Recovery from depression requires support.