Translation guide
The English word "rice" can refer to the uncooked grain, the cooked food, the plant, or even a Western side dish. Japanese distinguishes these carefully, so the right word depends on what you mean.
You want to talk about the cooked rice you eat, or use "rice" to mean a meal in general.
The standard word for cooked rice and also a general word for a meal. Polite and everyday.
I ate breakfast (lit. morning rice).
A more casual, masculine word for cooked rice or a meal. Often used in compounds or rough speech.
Loanword from English, used for Western-style cooked rice served on a plate, often as a side dish.
You are talking about rice as a raw ingredient, grain, or commodity.
The general word for uncooked rice grains. Used in contexts like buying, storing, or discussing rice as a crop product.
You are referring to the plant itself, often in agricultural contexts.
The rice plant, especially when growing in a paddy. Used in farming and nature descriptions.
You are talking about the harvested rice still in the husk, or the crop in general.
Ear of rice, the grain-bearing part of the plant. More poetic or agricultural.
You mean the fluffy, separate-grain rice served with Western food, not the sticky Japanese rice in a bowl.
Used for Western-style rice, often served on a plate with a main dish. Not used for traditional Japanese rice in a bowl.
You want to name a particular kind of rice, like jasmine rice or brown rice.
ご飯 (gohan) is cooked rice or a meal. 米 (kome) is uncooked grain. ライス (raisu) is Western-style rice on a plate. Using the wrong one can sound odd: asking for 米 at a restaurant would mean you want raw grains.
Saying 'Please give me uncooked rice' at a restaurant is strange.
The rice is cooked.
I eat (a meal).
curry and rice
I bought rice (uncooked).
Japan has a high consumption of rice.
Polite prefix added to 米. Common in everyday speech, especially by women or in polite contexts.
Please wash the rice.
稲が実りました。
The rice plants have ripened.
The ears of rice are swaying in the wind.
Unhulled rice, rice with the husk still on. Technical term.
Dry the unhulled rice.
The hamburger steak comes with rice.
玄米
brown rice
English phrases like 'rice bowl' or 'rice field' have specific Japanese words (茶碗, 田んぼ). Don't combine 米 or ご飯 directly.
This rice is delicious.
Refers to the cooked rice you are eating.