What words to express “puzzle” in Japanese?
謎、難題、難問
パズル、ジグソーパズル
”Puzzle” has three meanings according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries.
Japanese uses different expressions for each meaning.
1. a game, etc. that you have to think about carefully in order to answer it or do it
the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
Japanese doesn’t have a word that has this meaning directly.
We have a word パズル, but it means jigsaw puzzle.
When you want to express the “puzzle” that means No.1, you can say 頭を使うゲーム, or the name of a specific game.
e.g.
クロスワード・迷路・魔法陣・詰将棋・詰碁・マッチパズル・ルービッククューブ・知恵の輪・回文・言葉遊び
2. something that is difficult to understand or explain
the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
We can say 謎、難題、難問
3. a picture printed on cardboard (= very thick, stiff card) or wood, that has been cut up into a lot of small pieces of different shapes that you have to fit together again
the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
We can say パズル、ジグソーパズル
Advanced Tips
1. a crossword puzzle
We don’t say クロスワードパズル.
We just say クロスワード.
2. 回文
回文 is a sentence which sounds the same when we read in hiragana from either end.
e.g.
足しました
When you read from the left end, 足しました.
And, when you read from the right end, たしまし足.
other example;
新聞紙
よく行くよ
夜来るよ
関係ない喧嘩
昼飯の楽しめる日
There are 回文 which consist of more than 1,000 letters!
Let’s follow the link provided below!
Kotoba no Hibiki 