単語

The term "tango" refers specifically to a single linguistic unit or a "word" in the sense of vocabulary. It is used when focusing on the individual building blocks of a language, such as when memorizing a list of words or analyzing the structure of a sentence.

It is crucial to distinguish "tango" from "kotoba." While "tango" is a technical or narrow term for a "word unit," "kotoba" is a much broader term. "Kotoba" can mean a word, but it also encompasses phrases, the entire language, a person's way of speaking, or a promise (e.g., "kotoba o mamoru" meaning to keep one's word). Using "tango" when you mean "the Japanese language" or "a poetic expression" would sound unnatural and overly clinical.

In a learning context, "tango" is most frequently paired with activities like memorization (覚える), looking up in a dictionary (調べる), or using a vocabulary list (単語帳).