Translation guide
The English word "subject" has many distinct meanings. This guide helps learners choose the right Japanese expression depending on whether they mean a topic, a school subject, a grammatical subject, a test subject, or a person under authority.
The thing you are talking or writing about.
General word for a topic of conversation or discussion.
会議の話題は何ですか。
What is the subject of the meeting?
Often used for the theme of an essay, presentation, or artistic work.
この論文のテーマは環境問題です。
The subject of this paper is environmental issues.
Main subject or motif, often used in literary or artistic contexts.
この小説の主題は愛と喪失です。
The subject of this novel is love and loss.
An area of knowledge studied in school or university.
Standard word for a school subject or course.
好きな科目は何ですか。
What is your favorite subject?
Refers to a subject in the curriculum, often used in educational contexts.
Can mean a department or course of study, sometimes interchangeable with 科目.
The noun or pronoun that performs the action in a sentence.
The grammatical term for the subject of a sentence.
この文の主語は何ですか。
What is the subject of this sentence?
A person who is under the control of a ruler or government.
Refers to subjects of a monarch, often historical.
王は臣民に演説した。
The king addressed his subjects.
Citizens or people of a nation, often used in modern contexts.
A person or animal used in an experiment or study.
A human subject in an experiment or test.
被験者は全員健康な成人だった。
The subjects were all healthy adults.
Literally 'experiment table', used figuratively for a guinea pig.
The material or content of a book, film, etc.
General word for content or subject matter.
その映画の内容は難しかった。
The subject matter of the movie was difficult.
Subject matter or material for a creative work.
主語 (shugo) only means grammatical subject. To say 'the subject of the conversation', use 話題 (wadai) or テーマ (teema).
科目 (kamoku) is the most common for a school subject. 教科 (kyouka) is often used in official curriculum contexts. 学科 (gakka) can mean a department or a field of study, and is less common for a single subject.
A new subject has been added.
He is majoring in a science subject.
政府は国民の安全を守る責任がある。
The government has a duty to protect its subjects.
He was used as a subject for the new drug.
この小説の題材は戦争です。
The subject matter of this novel is war.