How to say "shopping" in Japanese

• 買い物かいものJLPT N5approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, intransitive verbThis is the word for shopping as a daily-life errand — the grocery run, errands in town; it also means the goods you bought. Say it for a shopping trip after work or on Saturday.
  １日にちおきに買い物かいものに行いく。↗

  I go shopping every other day.
• 買いかいCommon
  nounPoints to the act of buying itself; in the shopping sense it appears mainly in set phrases, so it is seldom the standalone word you want — use 買い物 instead.
  安物やすもの買かいの銭失ぜにうしない。↗

  Buy cheap and waste your money.
• ショッピングCommon
  noun, suru verb, intransitive verbThe loanword, for shopping as a leisure activity — browsing malls or shopping streets for clothes and other goods. Unlike 買い物, it covers the activity, not the goods themselves.
  地下ちかはショッピング街がいです。↗

  There is a shopping district underground.

Use 「買い物」 for everyday shopping and for the goods bought, 「ショッピング」 for shopping enjoyed as a leisure activity, and 「買い」 for the act of buying itself, chiefly in set phrases.

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

• 買い物かいものshopping
• 買いかいbuying
• ショッピングshopping