1.
star
A luminous point in the night sky.
星がきれいだ。
The stars are beautiful.
空に星がたくさん見える。
Many stars are visible in the sky.
山の上から見る星はとてもきれいだ。
The stars seen from the mountaintop are very beautiful.
夏の夜に父と外に出て、一緒に星を見るのが楽しい。
On summer nights, it's fun to go outside with my father and look at the stars together.
子供の時、毎年夏になると父と山に行って、一緒に星を見るのが楽しかった。
When I was a child, every summer I would go to the mountains with my father, and it was fun to look at the stars together.
星 refers primarily to stars visible in the night sky, not planets in scientific contexts.
COMMON EXPRESSIONS:
- 星を見る: to look at stars
- 星が出る: stars come out
- 星が輝く: stars shine
- 流れ星: shooting star
- 星空: starry sky
COMPOUNDS:
- 星座: constellation
- 一番星: first star of evening
- 北極星: North Star
FIGURATIVE USE:
星 also means rating stars (三つ星 = three stars) and can refer to someone's destiny or fate in literary contexts.
SCIENCE NOTE:
In astronomy, 恒星 (fixed star) is the technical term, while 惑星 refers to planets.