Japanese Conversation · Level 3
86 words
Japanese word
じゃがいも
Pronunciation
Romajijagaimo
Meaning
- nounpotato
Example
夕食にじゃがいもを食べます。yū shoku ni ja ga i mo o ta be ma su
I eat potatoes for dinner.
More examples
給食でじゃがいもを食べます。kyū shoku de ja ga i mo o ta be ma su
I eat potatoes at school lunch.
子どもがじゃがいもを洗います。ko do mo ga ja ga i mo o ara i ma su
The child washes the potatoes.
Core concept
It names a familiar food that grows as a starchy tuber beneath the ground.
Common phrases
じゃがいもを洗うja ga i mo o ara u
wash potatoes
じゃがいもをつぶすja ga i mo o tsu bu su
mash potatoes
じゃがいもを買うja ga i mo o ka u
buy potatoes
Similar words
馬鈴薯jagaimo: A starchy underground tuber used as a familiar food in formal writing and speech.
ポテトpoteto: A common loanword for a potato, especially in names of prepared foods.
Definition in Japanese
地下の茎が肥大してできる、でんぷんを多く含む食用の作物。chi ka no kuki ga hi dai shi te de ki ru de n pu n o ō ku fuku mu shoku yō no saku motsu
Word origin
じゃがいも (jagaimo) comes from ジャガタラ芋 (Jagatara imo), an older name connected with ジャガタラ (Jagatara), the historical Japanese name for Jakarta, where the plant came through.
Usage tips
- Potato appears in the English expression hot potato, which describes a difficult issue that people quickly pass from one person to another.