How to say "avenue" in Japanese

• 通りとおりJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounThe all-purpose word for a street or road; choose it whenever 'avenue' simply means a street, with no suggestion that it is the main one or lined with trees.
  この通とおりに沿そって行いけば駅えきに着つきます。↗

  If you follow this street, you will get to the station.
• 大通りおおどおりJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounCovers 'avenue' as a wide, important street — the main street of a town, busy with traffic and shops; reach for it when width or prominence is what you want to convey.
  私は大通おおどおりをずっと一人ひとりで歩あるいた。↗

  I walked along the main street.
• 街路がいろCommon
  nounMatches 'avenue' but belongs to the vocabulary of town planning and official writing rather than everyday speech; in conversation about a street or avenue it is seldom the word you want.
  彼かれらは街路がいろの雪ゆきを取り払とりはらった。↗

  They cleared the street of snow.
• アベニューCommon
  nounThe loanword taken straight from English; you meet it chiefly in names and in reference to avenues abroad, and it is not the usual way to speak of a street in Japan.
• 並木道なみきみちCommon
  nounTakes 'avenue' in its literal sense of a tree-lined road, the kind of leafy walk or drive you picture in a park; choose it when the trees, not the traffic, are the point.
  私わたしたちは並木道なみきみちを歩あるいた。↗

  We walked along an avenue lined with trees.

Use 「通り」 for a street in general, 「大通り」 for a wide main street, 並木道 for a tree-lined avenue, 「アベニュー」 for foreign avenues or names, and 街路 only in formal planning contexts.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 通りとおりstreet
• 大通りおおどおりmain street
• 街路がいろroad
• アベニューavenue
• 並木道なみきみちavenue
• 大道だいどうmain street
• 通路つうろpassage
• 並木通りなみきどおりavenue
• 広小路ひろこうじbroad street
• 通りどおりStreet