これなんていうの？"What Do You Call This" in Japanese

“What do you call this in Japanese?”

When you live in or visit Japan, you’ll find many things you don’t know what to call in Japanese.

When I lived in the United States, I often asked my friends, “what do you call this in English?”

Masa

I said this phrase thousands of times, and asking this kind of question helped me improve my English.

On this page, I’ll teach you how to say “what do you call in Japanese” and give some example sentences!

FREE Daily Japanese Podcasts are here!! (You don’t want to miss the opportunity to improve your Japanese for FREE)
JapanesePod101.com – Learn Japanese with Free Daily Podcasts

Table of contents

“What Do You Call This” in Japanese

・これ=this
・日本語(にほんご)=Japanese
・何(なに、なん)=what
・言(い)う=say

言(い)いますか？ is a formal way of asking.
When you ask this question to your friends, you can say 言(い)うの？

A: これは日本語(にほんご)で何(なん)と言(い)いますか？
B:ハサミと言(い)いますよ。

A: What do you call this in Japanese?
B: It’s called scissors(ハサミ)

A: これは日本語(にほんご)で何(なん)て言(い)うの？
B:ハサミって言(い)うよ。

A: What do you call this in Japanese?
B: It’s called scissors(ハサミ)

・呼(よ)ぶ=call
・何(なん)と呼(よ)びますか=what do you call

A:これは日本語(にほんご)で何(なん)と呼(よ)びますか？
B:時計(とけい)と呼(よ)びます。

A:what do you call this in Japanese?
B: It’s called the clock(とけい)

A:これは日本語(にほんご)で何(なん)と呼(よ)ぶの？
B:時計(とけい)と呼(よ)ぶよ。

A:what do you call this in Japanese?
B: It’s called the clock(とけい)

・これは日本語(にほんご)で何(なん)と言(い)いますか？
(What do you say this in Japanese?)
・これは日本語(にほんご)で何(なん)と呼(よ)びますか？
(What do you call this in Japanese?)

Masa

I personally use 何(なん)と言(い)いますか？ more often than 何(なん)と呼(よ)びますか？じゃあね！

If you want to know more Japanese phrases, click here!

FREE Daily Japanese Podcasts are here!! (You don’t want to miss the opportunity to improve your Japanese for FREE)
JapanesePod101.com – Learn Japanese with Free Daily Podcasts