English–Japanese

“surface” in Japanese

Japanese

Also表面 (hyōmen)

Romajimen

机の面をきれいにします。tsukue no men o ki re i ni shi ma su

I clean the surface of the desk.

“Surface” in Japanese is 面 (men). 面 can also mean “face”.

The term describes an object's broad outer area or an identifiable side, including the part that forms its visible face.

立方体の面を数えます。rip pō tai no men o kazo e ma su

I count the faces of a cube.

この紙の面に名前を書きます。ko no kami no men ni na mae o ka ki ma su

I write my name on the surface of this paper.

On a box or desk, 面 (men) can identify one broad side, while 辺 (hen) identifies the line where two sides meet, a useful distinction in descriptions of shape.

hyōmen

nounsurface

テーブルの表面を拭きます。tē bu ru no hyō men o fu ki ma su

I wipe the surface of the table.