Translation guide
The English word 'sliding' can describe smooth movement across a surface, a gradual change, or a part that moves in a track. This guide covers natural Japanese expressions for these meanings.
Describing something or someone gliding or slipping along a surface, often with continuous motion.
The most common verb for sliding or gliding. Can be used for people, objects, or vehicles. Intransitive.
子供たちが氷の上を滑っている。
The children are sliding on the ice.
本が机の上を滑って落ちた。
The book slid off the desk.
Transitive verb meaning to slide something. Used when you cause an object to slide.
彼はカードをテーブルの上に滑らせた。
He slid the card across the table.
Loanword from English, often used for mechanical sliding or in sports contexts. Can be casual.
選手がベースにスライドした。
The player slid into the base.
Onomatopoeic expression for sliding clumsily or dragging along. Emphasizes the sound or awkwardness.
靴下で床をずるずる滑らないで。
Don't slide around on the floor in your socks.
Referring to doors, drawers, or components that move along a fixed path.
A sliding door. The noun form; the verb is 引き戸を開ける/閉める (open/close a sliding door).
この部屋のドアは引き戸です。
The door in this room is a sliding door.
Means 'sliding type' and is used for mechanisms like sliding drawers or sliding panels.
この机にはスライド式の引き出しが付いている。
This desk has sliding drawers.
Specifically for sliding windows or sashes that slide horizontally.
滑り出し式の窓を開けてください。
Please open the sliding window.
Describing a value, condition, or situation that is slowly moving in a direction, often negatively.
Literally 'slide and fall', used figuratively for slipping into a worse state or declining.
景気が滑り落ちている。
The economy is sliding.
Formal term for a decline or drop, often used with numbers or performance.
売上が徐々に低下している。
Sales are gradually sliding.
Emphasizes a slow, uncontrolled slide downward, often with a negative nuance.
成績がずるずると下がっている。
My grades are sliding.
Moving smoothly or imperceptibly into a situation, often without intention.
Means 'before one knows it, it becomes...'. Captures the sense of sliding into a state unconsciously.
いつの間にか借金が増えていた。
I slid into debt without realizing it.
Using the onomatopoeia ずるずる with a verb to indicate sliding into a bad habit or situation.
ずるずるとゲームを続けてしまった。
I ended up sliding into playing games for too long.
滑る is the native Japanese verb for sliding or slipping and is used in everyday situations. スライドする is a loanword often used in sports, technology, or mechanical contexts. For general sliding motion, 滑る is more natural.
道で滑って転んだ。
I slipped and fell on the road.
写真をスライドして見せる。
I'll show the photos by sliding them.
While 滑る means 'to slide', it is not used as a verb for operating a sliding door. Instead, use 開ける/閉める with 引き戸, or describe the door itself as 引き戸.
引き戸を開けてください。
Please open the sliding door.