How to say "ditch" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 溝みぞnounThe basic word for a long narrow channel dug in the ground or cut into a surface — a ditch, trench, gutter, or drain. Choose it when you simply mean such a channel itself.
- nounAn open drainage ditch, typically one running along a street and carrying dirty water; usually written in kana alone. Use it for that unsavory kind of roadside gutter.
- 下水げすいnounThis is really about drainage and sewerage — dirty water and the systems that carry it. It is seldom the word you want for an actual ditch in the ground.
- 側溝そっこうnounA gutter or ditch built along the side of a road to carry off water. Use it when the ditch you mean is that roadside drainage channel.
- 排水溝はいすいこうnounA ditch or channel built to drain water away. Use it when you are naming the channel by its purpose of carrying off water.
Use 溝 for a ditch or trench, 「どぶ」 for a dirty roadside drain, 側溝 for a gutter beside a road, 排水溝 for a channel built to drain water, and treat 下水 as sewerage rather than a ditch.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
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