蝶ちょう々ちょう

also: ちょうちょ

ちょ

う

ちょ

う

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

General word for butterfly; used in everyday speech and writing.

A beautiful butterfly flew into the garden.

子こどもがちょうちょを追おいかけている。

The child is chasing a butterfly.

蝶々ちょうちょうが飛とぶa butterfly flies
庭にわで蝶ちょう々ちょうが飛とんでいる。
A butterfly is flying in the garden.
蝶々ちょうちょうを捕つかまえるto catch a butterfly
子こ供どもが網あみで蝶ちょう々ちょうを捕つかまえた。
The child caught a butterfly with a net.
蝶々ちょうちょうが花はなに止とまるa butterfly lands on a flower
蝶ちょう々ちょうが花はなに止とまっている。
A butterfly is resting on a flower.

蝶ちょうN1
蝶 is the more formal, literary word for butterfly, while 蝶々 is the everyday, slightly childlike term.

蛾が
蛾 means 'moth', a nocturnal and usually duller-colored relative that learners sometimes confuse with the diurnal, colorful 蝶々.

匹ひきN3
counter for small animals · counter for rolls of cloth · archaic counter for horses · roll of cloth

蝶々Usage62%
- ちょうちょう
  Standard kanji spelling; the repetition mark 々 is common.
- ちょうちょ
チョウチョUsage20%

Reduplication of 蝶 (ちょう, 'butterfly'), with the second character often written as 々. The colloquial form ちょうちょ is a common sound shift.

kana-only spelling

Katakana spelling, often used in informal or child-oriented contexts.

ちょうちょUsage9%

Common colloquial or child-friendly kana spelling.

チョウチョウUsage5%

kana-only spelling

ちょうちょうUsage4%

蝶蝶Usage<1%

ちょうちょう
Alternate kanji spelling without the repetition mark; less common but still used.
ちょうちょ