How to say "transportation" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 交通こうつうnoun, suru verbTransportation in the everyday sense of traffic and travel: the movement of people and vehicles by road, rail and so on. Choose this for getting around, not for shipping goods.
- 搬送はんそうnoun, suru verb, transitive verbA technical word for conveying something within a system — moving an injured person to hospital, or goods along a line. It is seldom the everyday word for transportation.Fibre-optic cables can carry huge amounts of information.
- 運輸うんゆnounTransportation as a business or industry: the sector that moves passengers and freight. You meet it in company names and industry talk rather than in everyday sentences about travel.
- 輸送ゆそうnoun, suru verb, transitive verbThe general word for transporting people or goods from one place to another, especially freight and shipments over distance; the usual choice when 'transport' is a verb or noun for moving cargo.
- 運搬うんぱんnoun, suru verb, transitive verbCarriage or conveyance of loads: physically carrying or carting goods and materials. For passengers or everyday travel it is not the word you want.
Use 交通 for traffic and travel systems, 輸送 for moving goods or people over distance, 運輸 for the transportation industry, 搬送 for technical conveyance such as patients, and 運搬 for carrying loads.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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