Translation guide
The English word "rice" can refer to the uncooked grain, the cooked food, the plant, or even a Western side dish. Japanese distinguishes these carefully, so the right word depends on what you mean.
You want to talk about the cooked rice you eat, or use "rice" to mean a meal in general.
The standard word for cooked rice and also a general word for a meal. Polite and everyday.
朝ご飯を食べました。
I ate breakfast (lit. morning rice).
ご飯が炊けました。
The rice is cooked.
A more casual, masculine word for cooked rice or a meal. Often used in compounds or rough speech.
飯を食う。
I eat (a meal).
Loanword from English, used for Western-style cooked rice served on a plate, often as a side dish.
カレーライス
curry and rice
You are talking about rice as a raw ingredient, grain, or commodity.
The general word for uncooked rice grains. Used in contexts like buying, storing, or discussing rice as a crop product.
米を買いました。
I bought rice (uncooked).
日本は米の消費量が多い。
Japan has a high consumption of rice.
Polite prefix added to 米. Common in everyday speech, especially by women or in polite contexts.
お米を研いでください。
Please wash the rice.
You are referring to the plant itself, often in agricultural contexts.
You are talking about the harvested rice still in the husk, or the crop in general.
Ear of rice, the grain-bearing part of the plant. More poetic or agricultural.
稲穂が風に揺れている。
The ears of rice are swaying in the wind.
Unhulled rice, rice with the husk still on. Technical term.
籾を乾燥させる。
Dry the unhulled rice.
You mean the fluffy, separate-grain rice served with Western food, not the sticky Japanese rice in a bowl.
Used for Western-style rice, often served on a plate with a main dish. Not used for traditional Japanese rice in a bowl.
ハンバーグにライスが付きます。
The hamburger steak comes with rice.
You want to name a particular kind of rice, like jasmine rice or brown rice.
ご飯 (gohan) is cooked rice or a meal. 米 (kome) is uncooked grain. ライス (raisu) is Western-style rice on a plate. Using the wrong one can sound odd: asking for 米 at a restaurant would mean you want raw grains.
レストランで「米をください」と言うと変です。
Saying 'Please give me uncooked rice' at a restaurant is strange.
English phrases like 'rice bowl' or 'rice field' have specific Japanese words (茶碗, 田んぼ). Don't combine 米 or ご飯 directly.