Milk in Japanese: gyūnyū, explained based on its kanji expression

How to say “milk” in Japanese

Honestly speaking, Japanese people quite often say “miruku” to mean ‘milk’. It is an imported word which originally came from the pronunciation of “milk”. In this blog post, however, I will explain the Japanese word, “gyūnyū”, in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “gyūnyū”
• “Gyūnyū” in kanji
  • Example #1: how to say “milk” in Japanese
  • Example #2: another usage of “gyūnyū”
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “gyūnyū”

Let me start with the definition and meaning of “gyūnyū”.

• gyūnyū – 牛乳 (ぎゅうにゅう) : a noun meaning ‘milk’, more specifically ‘cow milk’, in Japanese.

Its definition and meaning are simple and clear, I think. To understand this word more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

“Gyūnyū” in kanji

Below are the kanji characters used in “gyūnyū”.

• 牛 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘cattle’, ‘cow’, ‘ox’, ‘bull’, ‘beef’, or such in Japanese.
• 乳 : a kanji character used to mean ‘milk’ in general. This can also refer to breasts.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “gyūnyū” literally means ‘cow milk’. Its kanji concept is completely in line with the meaning.

When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “gyūnyū” through the detailed kanji check above.

Then, let me explain how to use “gyūnyū” through the example sentences below.

Example #1: how to say “milk” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this is used after “kare” to make the subject word in the sentence.
• ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “gyūnyū” to make the object word in the sentence.
• suki – 好き (すき) : one conjugation of the na-adjective, “sukina”, which means ‘favorite’ in Japanese. In reality, however, Japanese people often use this word like an individual word to mean ‘to like’ or ‘to love’. In the example, this is used to mean ‘to love’.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “suki” to make it sound polite.

This is a typical usage of “gyūnyū”. In this example, it works as a part of the commonly-used phrase, “gyūnyū ga suki”, which means ‘to love milk’ in Japanese. When we want to say “milk” in Japanese, this word would be a very good choice.

Example #2: another usage of “gyūnyū”

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• mise – 店 (みせ) : a noun meaning ‘store’, ‘shop’, or such in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun. Learn more about Japanese plural.
• de – で : a case particle used to indicate a place where someone does something. In the example, this is used after “mise” to say where “I” bought milk.
• wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “gyūnyū” to make the object word in the sentence.
• kat – 買っ (かっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “kau”, which means ‘to buy’ or ‘to purchase’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “kat” to make its past tense form, “kat ta”.

This is another typical usage of “gyūnyū”. In this example, it works as a part of the commonly-used phrase, “gyūnyū wo kat ta”, which means ‘to have bought milk’ in Japanese. This phrase should be learnt together with its present tense form, “gyūnyū wo kau”.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “gyūnyū” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• gyūnyū – 牛乳 (ぎゅうにゅう) : a noun meaning ‘milk’, more specifically ‘cow milk’, in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally means ‘cow milk’. So, the kanji concept is completely in line with the meaning. When we want to say “milk” in Japanese, this word would be a very good choice.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.