小川(おがわ)

おがわ
noun
stream; brook; creek
literarygeographynature
1. stream; brook; creek
A small, narrow body of flowing water, smaller than a river. Often found in natural settings like mountains, forests, or rural areas.
森(もり)の中(なか)を小川(おがわ)が流(なが)れている。
A stream flows through the forest.
小川(おがわ)で魚(さかな)を捕(と)った。
I caught fish in the stream.
小川(おがわ)のせせらぎが聞(き)こえる。
I can hear the murmuring of the brook.
子供(こども)たちが小川(おがわ)で水遊(みずあそ)びをしている。
The children are playing in the stream.
大雨(おおあめ)が降(ふ)ると、この小川(おがわ)は増水(ぞうすい)して危(あぶ)ないので近(ちか)づかないでください。
When it rains heavily, this stream swells and becomes dangerous, so please stay away.

Forms

小(お) (small) + 川(がわ) (river) — a watercourse narrow enough to step across.

Usage

Belongs to scenic and nostalgic description more than to practical talk about water: 森(もり)の小川(おがわ), 小川(おがわ)の流(なが)れ (the flow of a stream), 小川(おがわ)のせせらぎ (the babbling of a brook), often with さらさら for the sound of the water. 小川(おがわ) is also a common surname (Ogawa), so a bare occurrence in a text may be a person, not a stream.

By size

Related Words

Related: 川(かわ) (river)
Related: 大河(たいが)
Related: せせらぎ
Related: 渓流(けいりゅう) (mountain stream)
Compare: 沢(さわ) (mountain stream)
Compare: 細流(さいりゅう) (small stream)
core
Added 2026.1.18 13:28 · Revised 2026.9.4 21:29
06500/06695_ogawa