お酒

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. お酒を飲みますか。▶ —
   Do you drink (alcohol)?
2. 日本酒が好きです。▶ —
   I like nihonshu (sake).

Collocations

Mnemonic

お酒 osake — お (honorific) + 酒 (sake). Layer trap: お酒 covers (1) alcohol in general (beer, wine, sake all), and (2) Japanese rice wine specifically — context decides. For the rice wine alone use 日本酒 (nihonshu) or 清酒 (seishu, formal). At a 飲み会 (nomikai, drinking party), "お酒は?" is the generic "What'll you drink?" question. Korean and Chinese also use one word for both general alcohol and the national drink — same ambiguity. The drinking-culture vocabulary cluster: お酒, 乾杯, とりあえずビール, 酔っぱらい (drunkard), 二日酔い (hangover) — extending into social and character judgment.

Quick check

1. Precise difference between お酒 and 日本酒?

   • お酒 = alcohol generally (incl. beer, wine) / 日本酒 = Japanese rice wine only
   • Identical
   • お酒 formal, 日本酒 casual
   • お酒 = sake only