費用（ひよう、hiyou）
- cost

The Japanese word 費用 (ひよう, *hiyō*) primarily means "cost," "expense," or "charge." It refers to the money spent or required for something. This can be for goods, services, activities, or anything that incurs a financial outlay. It’s a versatile word used in various contexts, from personal finance to business and government spending. Think of it as the monetary value associated with something.

⚫︎ 旅行費用 Translation: Travel expenses. ⚫︎ 授業料と生活費用 Translation: Tuition fees and living expenses. ⚫︎ このプロジェクトの費用は高すぎます。 Translation: The cost of this project is too high.

⚫︎ 費用 is used in formal and informal situations. ⚫︎ It's suitable for discussing the price of goods or services. ⚫︎ It can be employed to talk about budgets, expenses, and financial matters. ⚫︎ Often appears in financial reports, invoices, and everyday conversations about spending money. ⚫︎ You can use it in questions like: このサービスの費用はいくらですか？ (How much does this service cost?)

⚫︎ The word 費用 is most commonly written in kanji as 費用 and read as ひよう (hiyō). ⚫︎ The hiragana reading is essential for pronunciation. ⚫︎ There are no variations in okurigana (the suffix hiragana).

⚫︎ コスト (*kosuto*) - "Cost" (borrowed from English, often used in business). ⚫︎ 料金 (*ryōkin*) - "Fee," "charge" (used for services). ⚫︎ 支出 (*shishutsu*) - "Expenditure," "outlay" (more formal). ⚫︎ お金 (*okane*) - "Money" (general term, not specific to costs, but can be used).

⚫︎ 収入 (*shūnyū*) - "Income," "revenue." ⚫︎ 利益 (*rieki*) - "Profit."

この車の修理費用はかなりかかりました。 ・Translation: The cost of repairing this car was quite a bit. ・Explanation: This sentence illustrates the use of 費用 to describe the monetary amount spent on a repair.

留学には多くの費用がかかります。 ・Translation: Studying abroad involves a lot of expenses. ・Explanation: This sentence shows 費用 being used to talk about the expenses related to studying abroad.

⚫︎ 費 (hi) means "expense," "cost," "sacrifice," or "spend." ⚫︎ 用 (yō) means "use," "utility," "application," or "service." ⚫︎ Together, 費用 literally means the "cost" of "using" or "spending" something. It represents the money needed for a particular purpose or activity.