How to say "cash" in Japanese

• 現金げんきんJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounCovers the core sense of 'cash': actual money on hand — notes and coins — as opposed to cards or credit. The ordinary word for asking if a shop takes cash or paying without a card.
  現金げんきんで払はらう必要ひつようはありません。↗

  You don't have to pay in cash.
• 金銭きんせんJLPT N3approx.Common
  no-adjectiveCovers 'cash' only in the broad sense of money in general: a word of legal and business writing — contracts, payments, compensation — not how you refer to the notes in your pocket.
  金銭きんせんのことで彼かれと争あらそいになった。↗

  I had a quarrel with him over money.
• ドルCommon
  nounReally the word for the dollar, usually written in kana alone; you meet it in exchange rates and dollar prices. Its 'money, cash' sense is marginal — seldom what you want for cash.
• 実弾じつだんCommon
  nounColloquial and figurative: literally 'live bullets', it means real cash, above all money used for bribery. Not a neutral everyday word for cash — expect it in talk of payoffs and corruption.

Choose 現金 for cash as physical money on hand; 金銭 is a broad, legal-and-business word for money in general; 「ドル」 really means the dollar; and 実弾 is colloquial cash, typically for bribery.

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

• 現金げんきんcash
• 金銭きんせんmoney
• キャッシュcash
• 正金しょうきんcash
• 鳥目ちょうもくcash
• 金片かねびらmoney
• 札片さつびらmoney
• ドルmoney
• 黄金おうごんmoney (esp. ōban coin)
• 実弾じつだんmoney (for bribery)
• 用度ようどmoney
• お宝おたからmoney