塩(しお)

しお
noun
salt
1. salt
A white crystalline substance (sodium chloride) used for seasoning and preserving food. An essential cooking ingredient.
塩(しお)を少(すこ)し入(い)れてください。
Please add a little salt.
このスープは塩(しお)が足(た)りません。
This soup doesn't have enough salt.
塩(しお)と砂糖(さとう)を間違(まちが)えました。
I mistook salt for sugar.
塩(しお)は体(からだ)に必要(ひつよう)ですが、取(と)りすぎはよくないです。
Salt is necessary for the body, but taking too much is not good.
海(うみ)の水(みず)には塩(しお)がたくさん入(はい)っているので、飲(の)むことができません。
Seawater has a lot of salt in it, so you can't drink it.

塩(しお) is salt, one of the most fundamental seasonings in Japanese cooking.

COMMON EXPRESSIONS:

  • 塩(しお)を入(い)れる: to add salt
  • 塩加減(しおかげん): salt seasoning (the right amount of salt)
  • 塩味(しおあじ): salty flavor
  • 塩焼(しおや)き: salt-grilled (fish, etc.)
  • 塩(しお)漬(づ)け: salted/pickled

RELATED ADJECTIVE:
塩辛(しおから)い or しょっぱい: salty (taste)

CULTURAL NOTE:
Salt has spiritual significance in Shinto. 清(きよ)めの塩(しお) (purifying salt) is scattered at funerals and sumo matches. Small piles of 盛(も)り塩(じお) are placed at shop entrances for good luck.

CONTRAST:

  • 塩(しお): salt
  • 砂糖(さとう): sugar
basic
Added 2026.1.7 21:56 · Revised 2026.2.19 11:56
00500/00887_shio