Meaning

Primary

Salt Water

Alternative

Salty Water

Word Type

noun

Explanation

Water with salt in it is salt water or salty water.

Unlike "salt water" in English, which often suggests seawater, 塩水 refers to any water that contains some salt in it, including seawater, salt water for gargling, and medical saline.

Reading

しおみず
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)
えんすい
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

This word uses the kun'yomi readings, which you've seen with the vocab words and . Combine them together and you have しおみず.

This word can also be read with on'yomi readings, but that version is more formal. しおみず is usually for salty water in everyday contexts, like cooking or gargling. えんすい is more common in scientific contexts or for official categorization, like when referring to a saltwater lake.

Context

Context Sentences

私は毎日塩水を飲んでいます。

I drink salt water every day.

ブロッコリーは、塩水に5分つけておきます。

Let broccoli soak in salted water for five minutes.

海水は塩水なのでキズにしみます。

Sea water stings on wounds because it's salty.

Kanji Composition