魚（さかな、sakana）
- fish

The Japanese word 魚 (pronounced さかな, or sometimes うお) primarily means "fish." It refers to aquatic animals with gills and fins, typically having a streamlined body. The word can be used both for a single fish and for fish in general. It covers a wide variety of fish species, both saltwater and freshwater.

⚫︎魚を食べる。 Translation: I eat fish. ⚫︎水族館にはたくさんの魚がいます。 Translation: There are many fish in the aquarium. ⚫︎あの魚はとても大きいです。 Translation: That fish is very big.

⚫︎You can use 魚 in conversations when talking about fish in general, specific types of fish, or fish as a food item. ⚫︎It's a very common and versatile word. ⚫︎If you need to be more specific, you might add another word to describe the type of fish, e.g., マグロ (tuna) or 鮭 (salmon).

⚫︎The standard way to write "fish" is 魚 (kanji). ⚫︎The reading of the kanji is さかな (hiragana). ⚫︎The word can also be written in hiragana as さかな. ⚫︎The reading うお is also correct, but less common in everyday conversation, it is used more poetically. ⚫︎There are no variations in the okurigana.

⚫︎魚類 (ぎょるい): This means "fish" as a general term or "fish species." ⚫︎Specific names of fish (e.g., マグロ (tuna), 鮭 (salmon), 金魚 (goldfish)).

There aren't direct antonyms for 魚, but you could think about "land animals" in a general sense or the opposite habitats.

私は新鮮な魚が大好きです。 ・Translation: I love fresh fish. ・Explanation: This sentence expresses a preference for fresh fish as food.

このレストランは魚料理が美味しいです。 ・Translation: This restaurant has delicious fish dishes. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the quality of a restaurant's fish dishes.

The kanji 魚 (gyo) is a pictograph of a fish. The origin of the word さかな is not as clear, but it is believed to have originated from early Japanese language.