This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the Japanese word shiki, including its Japanese definition and various translations, example sentences, and more!
Contents
What does shiki mean?
The Japanese word shiki (しき) has many meanings. One such meaning is an official ceremony or event (written as 式). Another is the four seasons (written as 四季, which are literally the kanji for four and season).
Below, we take a look at some examples of how to use shiki in Japanese.
To make it easier for you, I have written each sentence in full Japanese kanji in the first line, followed by roman letters (romaji), and hiragana, with the English meaning coming last.
Shiki meaning 1: Ceremony
The first meaning of shiki is a ceremony or event. The word can either be standalone or (more often) used within words such as kekkonshiki (新婚式, wedding ceremony) or sotsugyoushiki (卒業式, graduation ceremony).
式は土曜日に行われる予定です。
Shiki wa doyoubi ni okonawareru yotei desu.
しきはどようびにおこなわれるよていです。
The ceremony will take place on Saturday.
結婚式はとても楽しかったです。
Kekkonshiki wa totemo tanoshikatta desu.
けっこんしきはとてもたのしかったです。
I really enjoyed the wedding.
葬式では自分の悲しみを隠すことはできなかった。
Soushiki de wa jibun no kanashimi wo kakusu koto wa dekinakatta.
そうしきではじぶんのかなしみをかくすことはできなかった。
I could not hide my grief at the funeral.
意外と卒業式で泣かなかった。
Igai to sotsugyoushiki de nakanakatta.
いがいとそつぎょうしきでなかなかった。
Surprisingly, I did not cry at the graduation ceremony.
Shiki meaning 2: Four seasons
Shiki can also mean the four seasons of spring (haru, 春), summer (natsu, 夏), autumn (aki, 秋), and winter (fuyu, 冬).
It is a fairly common Japanese belief that Japan is the only place in the world to have four seasons. I don’t know where this idea comes from, but people are often surprised to hear that England has four seasons too (albeit with all of them resembling a Japanese winter 😉 )
日本には四季がある。
Nihon ni wa shiki ga aru.
にほんにはしきがある。
Japan has four seasons.
東南アジアには四季がない。
Tounan ajia ni wa shiki ga nai.
とうなんあじあにはしきがない。
Southeast Asia does not have four seasons.
日本以外に四季のある国があるんですか？
Nihon igai ni shiki no aru kuni ga arun desu ka?
にほんいがいにしきのあるくにがあるんですか？
Do any other countries except Japan have four seasons?
四季の中で一番好きな季節はどっち？
Shiki no naka de ichiban suki na kisetsu wa docchi?
Of the four seasons, which (season) do you like the most?
Note: Kisetsu means season in a more general sense.
景色は四季を通して美しいです。
Keshiki wa shiki wo tooshite utsukushii desu.
けしきはしきをとおしてうつくしいです。
The scenery is beautiful throughout the year (lit: throughout the four seasons)
Wrapping up the shiki
As discussed here, Japanese is a sound-poor language so the two meanings I discussed today are just the most common ones of many possibilities for shiki. Check out this Wiktionary page for more examples.
Rohan's favorite resource for learning Japanese is JapanesePod101, one of the best tools for getting started with the language. Sign up for a free lifetime account here.
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