The Meaning of meishi [名詞] In Japanese

名詞
めいし
Romaji: meishi N5

What does 名詞 mean?

Translation and Meaning

noun, naming word

Definition

名詞 means the grammatical category of words that function as nouns. In Japanese grammar, 名詞 refers to words that name things or concepts and can typically serve as the subject or object in sentences, with minimal inflection compared to verbs.

Type

word class (noun) (名詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • Commonly refers to the class of nouns, i.e., words that name things, people, places, or ideas
  • In linguistic discussions, 名詞 is contrasted with 動詞 and 形容詞 as a basic part of speech
  • In textbooks and dictionaries, 名詞 is used as a header to label noun entries

Composition

  • 名: name, designation
  • 詞: word, term, expression

Usage

In grammar discussions, 名詞 is introduced as a core word class and is used in formal writing, textbooks, and language-learning materials to label noun entries; it appears in POS tagging in NLP and in classroom explanations to distinguish nouns from verbs and adjectives. The term is typically used in the context of sentence structure to mark subjects and objects.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: Name-tag words — imagine a label with a name on every object; 名詞 literally combines ‘name’ and ‘word’ to indicate a word that names something.

Variations

  • 体言 taigen — nominal; traditional term for nouns
  • 一般名詞 ippan meishi — common noun
  • 固有名詞 koyū meishi — proper noun
  • 動詞 doushi — verb (contrastive word class)

Example Phrases

  • この名詞の使い方は実は難しい。
    Kono meishi no tsukaikata wa jitsu wa muzukashii.
    This noun’s usage is actually difficult.
    Lista:
    • この (kono) – this
    • 名詞 (meishi) – noun
    • の (no) – of
    • 使い方 (tsukaikata) – how to use
    • は (wa) – topic marker
    • 実は (jitsu wa) – actually
    • 難しい (muzukashii) – difficult
    Aqui 「名詞」 funciona como núcleo de uma expressão com の, formando 「この「名詞」の使い方」, isto é, a forma de usar este 「名詞」.
名詞