How to say 'Painful' in Japanese | 辛い

Wondering how to say 'Painful' in Japanese? You're in the right place!

The Japanese word for Painful is 'Tsurai', written as 辛い in Japanese.'Painful' in hiragana is つらい.

word

辛い

Meaning

Painful

Reading

つらい

tsurai

Kanji

辛Hard, Spicy

Explanation

The Japanese adjective '辛い (つらい)' primarily means 'painful' or 'difficult'. It is often used to describe emotional or physical pain, as well as challenging situations. For example: it was a painful experience「それは辛い経験だった」(それはつらいけいけんだった). This work is difficult「この仕事は辛い」(このしごとはつらい). The word can also imply a sense of hardship or suffering, making it versatile in expressing both literal and metaphorical struggles. Note that '辛い' can also be read as 'からい' when referring to something being 'spicy', but in this context, we are focusing on the reading 'つらい'.

Part Of Speech

adjective

Kanji JLPT

Kanji Grade

Frequency

1078

Composition

kanji-hiragana

Handwriting

This word is an i-adjective. To learn how it transforms in different tenses and forms, explore all its conjugations.

Kanji in the Word 辛い

This word contains 1 kanji character:

kanji

辛

Meaning

Hard, Spicy

Hiragana in the Word 辛い

This word contains 1 Hiragana character :

hiragana

い

Reading

Words Related to 辛い Through the Kanji 辛

This Word contains the Kanji 辛 as well.

word

塩辛い

Meaning

Salty

Learn the Word 辛い

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What does 'Tsurai' (辛い) mean?

'Tsurai' means 'Painful' .

To help you master this word, here's an interactive lesson where you'll practice its readings and meanings.