This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the Japanese word yume, including its Japanese definition and translation, example sentences, related expressions and more!
Contents
What does yume mean?
Yume (夢、ゆめ) means dream in Japanese. As in English, the meaning of yume can be either literal (a dream you actually had last night, for example) or figurative (your dreams for the future). Yume is a noun, and is not to be confused with yumei (有名、ゆうめい), which means famous!
Below, we will take a look at some examples of how to use this word, the difference between yume and yumei, and two other useful Japanese expressions that incorporate yume.
Yume = Dream
To make it easier for you, I have written each sentence in full Japanese kanji in the first line, followed by roman letters (romaji), and hiragana, with the English meaning coming last.
彼女の夢は叶った。
Kanojo no yume wa kanatta.
かのじょのゆめはかなった。
Her dream came true.
夕べはなぜか、花火の夢を見ました。
Yuube wa naze ka, hanabi no yume wo mimashita.
ゆうべはなぜか、はなびのゆめをみました。
For some reason, I dreamed about fireworks last night.
将来の夢は何?
Shourai no yume wa nani?
しょうらいのゆめはなに?
What is your dream for the future?
俺の夢はボクサーなることだ。
Ore no yume wa bokusaa ni naru koto da.
おれのゆめはぼくさーになることだ。
My dream is to become a boxer.
良い夢みてね。
Ii (note: double-i) yume mite ne.
いいゆめみてね。
Sweet dreams!
Warui yume = Nightmare
Warui yume (悪い夢, わるいゆめ) means nightmare in Japanese. The adjective warui means bad, so warui yume is literally a bad dream.
昨日の夜は悪い夢を見た。
Kinou no yoru wa warui yume wo mita.
きのうのよるはわるいゆめをみた。
I had a nightmare last night.
大丈夫だよ。ただの悪い夢だから。
Daijyoubu da yo. Tada no warui yume dakara.
だいじょうぶだよ。ただのわるいゆめだから。
It’s OK. It was just a bad dream.
Yume vs yumei: How to tell them apart
When you first come across them, it might seem that yume (dream) and yumei (famous) sound pretty similar. In fact, these are completely different words that beginners easily confuse. So how do you distinguish between the two?
When spoken aloud, the yu- sound in yume is shorter than in yumei, where it is more drawn out. It might be more accurate to write the latter as yuumei to represent this difference.
When written in Japanese, of course, the kanji are completely different (夢 and 有名) so you’re unlikely to confuse them when reading.
Here’s a couple of examples of their totally different meanings. Note that yumei (famous) usually comes with -na (な) before the noun to become yumei na.
お母さんの夢は人気のYouTuberになること。
Okaasan no yume wa ninki no YouTuber ni naru koto.
おかあさんのゆめはにんきのYouTuberになること。
My mother’s dream is to become a popular YouTuber.
お母さんは有名なYouTuberになった。
Okaasan wa yuumei na YouTuber ni natta.
おかあさんはゆうめいなYouTuberになった。
My mother became a famous YouTuber.
Yume mitai: Like a dream
The common expression yume mitai means like a dream. You might use this when something is so fun or amazing that it feels unreal. In English, one equivalent expression is I can’t believe it!
すごく楽しい。夢みたい!
Sugoku tanoshii. Yume mitai!
すごくたのしい。ゆめみたい!
It’s so fun. Like a dream!
彼にプロポーズされた時、夢みたいだった。
Kare ni puropouzu sareta toki, yume mitai datta.
かれにぷろぽーずされたとき、ゆめみたいだった。
When my boyfriend proposed to me, I couldn’t believe it.
Rohan's favorite resource for learning Japanese is JapanesePod101, one of the best tools for getting started with the language. Sign up for a free lifetime account here.
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