脂肪

しぼう

fat, grease

JLPT N3

Character Breakdown

Understanding 脂肪 (しぼう)

脂肪 refers to fat or grease, commonly used in contexts related to food, health, and the human body. It can describe the fat content in food or body fat that affects health and fitness.

Common Usage

You will often see 脂肪 used when discussing nutrition, such as 脂肪分 (fat content) or 脂肪燃焼 (fat burning). It is a neutral term and can be used in both formal and informal contexts.

Collocations and Patterns

  • 脂肪分 (しぼうぶん): fat content, used when talking about food or ingredients.
  • 脂肪燃焼 (しぼうねんしょう): fat burning, often used in fitness or dieting contexts.
  • 脂肪が多い (しぼうがおおい): high in fat, describing food or body fat.

Usage Tips

When using 脂肪, be aware it is a more scientific or formal term compared to more casual words like あぶら (油) which can mean oil or fat in cooking. 脂肪 is often used in health-related discussions or when specifying fat content precisely.

Avoid confusing 脂肪 with 肥満 (ひまん), which means obesity; 脂肪 is the substance, 肥満 is the condition.

This word is useful for talking about diet, nutrition, and body health in everyday conversation and written materials.

Example Sentences

このりょうりはしぼうがおおいので、けんこうにきをつけてたべてください。

This dish has a lot of fat, so please eat it with care for your health.

しぼうをねんしょうさせるために、まいにちうんどうをしています。

I exercise every day to burn fat.

しぼうぶんのすくないぎゅうにゅうをえらぶひとがふえています。

More people are choosing low-fat milk.