Translation guide
The English word "yard" has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common ones for learners: an outdoor area next to a building, a unit of length, and a few specialized uses.
A piece of ground adjoining a house or building, often grassy or used as a garden.
The kids are playing in the yard. · I need to mow the yard. · Our yard is small but cozy.
The most common and general word for a yard or garden. It can refer to any outdoor area around a house, whether it has plants, grass, or is just an open space.
The children are playing in the yard.
I did yard work on the weekend.
Refers specifically to the area right in front of a house or the part of the yard near the entrance. Often used when talking about something happening just outside the door.
Backyard. Specifically the yard behind a house.
Front yard. Less commonly used in everyday conversation; 庭先 is more natural for the area in front of a house.
A unit of linear measure equal to 3 feet (0.9144 meter).
The standard loanword for the imperial unit. Used in sports like American football, golf, and in some technical contexts.
An area where a particular kind of work is done, such as a shipyard, lumberyard, or junkyard.
A system of tracks for sorting and storing railroad cars.
A long spar on a mast to support a sail.
The horizontal spar from which a square sail is suspended. Specialized nautical term.
While 庭 (にわ) covers both 'yard' and 'garden', ガーデン (gāden) is a loanword often used for more stylized or Western-style gardens, like ビアガーデン (beer garden) or フラワーガーデン (flower garden). For a typical house yard, 庭 is the natural choice.
English-style garden
Japanese 庭 can mean both a grassy yard and a cultivated garden. Context usually makes it clear. If you need to specify a vegetable garden, use 家庭菜園 (かていさいえん) or 畑 (はたけ).
The house has a big yard.
庭先に車を停めた。
I parked the car in the front yard.
裏庭でバーベキューをした。
We had a barbecue in the backyard.
前庭に花を植えた。
I planted flowers in the front yard.
I timed my 100-yard dash.
This fabric is $5 per yard.
Japan uses the metric system. In everyday life, distances are measured in meters. If you need to express a yard measurement, you can convert to meters (1 yard ≈ 0.91 m) or use ヤード with an explanation.
One yard is about 0.91 meters.
I bought lumber at the lumberyard.
For shipyards, 造船所 (ぞうせんじょ) is more common, but 工場 can be used for industrial yards.
He works at the shipyard.
For scrapyards or junkyards, くず鉄置き場 or スクラップヤード are used.
I found an old car at the scrapyard.
The technical term for a railway yard where trains are assembled and stored.
Freight cars are lined up in the railway yard.
Refers to a rail yard or depot where trains are kept and maintained. Common in news and general contexts.
I toured the Shinkansen rail yard.
帆桁を上げる。
Hoist the yard.
He hit the ball 300 yards.