How to say "shop" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 店みせnounThe general word for a shop, store or eating place; this is what you use in ordinary conversation about where you shop, eat or stop by.
- 店てんnoun (suffix)The same character in its on-reading; it turns up chiefly inside compounds and in shop names, so when you say 'shop' on its own the reading is みせ.
- nounThe loanword; you see it on signs and in advertising, and it suits talk of fashionable or specialty shops, adding a stylish, Western flavor that 店 does not have.
- 店舗てんぽnounShop premises seen as a business or property matter; you meet it in commercial documents, real-estate listings and news reports rather than in casual chat about where to shop.
- 商店しょうてんnounA shop or store thought of as a retail business; it can also mean a firm, and its businesslike air makes it less natural for casual chat about where you shop.
Use 店（みせ） for a shop in everyday speech; てん is its compound reading; 「ショップ」 is the stylish loanword; 店舗 suits business or property contexts; 商店 frames a shop as a retail business or firm.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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