How to say "board" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 乗るのるgodan verb, intransitive verbThe verb for getting on or boarding a train, plane, bus, or ship; use this when 'board' means to enter or take a vehicle, not for a physical board.
- 板いたnounThe physical object: a flat piece of wood, a board or plank. This is the word for the concrete thing itself, not for boarding vehicles or for game boards.
- nounThe loanword adopted from English 'board'. Use this where the English term itself is used in Japanese, rather than the native word 板; for a plain piece of wood, 板 is the word.
- 庁ちょうnoun, noun (suffix)Its 'board' sense is administrative: a government office or agency. It is never a physical board, so for planks, game boards, or boarding vehicles it is not the word you want.
- 盤ばんnounThe board for games such as shogi, go, and chess. Use this for the playing board of a game, not for a plank of wood or for boarding a vehicle.
Use 「乗る」 for boarding a vehicle, 板 for a physical plank of wood, 盤 for a game board, 「ボード」 where English 'board' is borrowed as a loanword, and 庁 only for a government office or agency.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
This browser can't play pronunciations (needs Safari 18.4 or later, or Chrome / Edge / Firefox).
