How to say "international" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 国際こくさいno-adjectiveThe default choice when you simply mean 'international'; unless you have a specific reason to pick one of the others, this is the word to reach for.
- na-adjective, nounThe katakana loanword; it carries an English-language flavor and appears most often in names and set phrases, so 国際 is the natural choice for translating 'international' in a sentence.
- 国際的こくさいてきna-adjectiveCovers 'international' as a descriptive adjective — something international in character or scope — and stretches to 'worldwide' and 'cosmopolitan'; fits descriptions of cities, events, or people with an international outlook.
- 世界的せかいてきna-adjectiveReally means 'worldwide' or 'global' — of world scale or known the world over; 'international' is only a secondary rendering, so pick it for global reach or worldwide fame, not plain 'international'.
- nounA clipped abbreviation of インターナショナル rather than a word in its own right; it is seldom the word you want for 'international' — use 国際 there instead.
Use 国際 for 'international' in ordinary contexts, 国際的 when describing something as international or cosmopolitan in character, 世界的 for the worldwide/global sense, and the loanword 「インターナショナル」 (clipped 「インター」) mainly in names.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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