This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the Japanese word subarashii, including its Japanese definition and translation, usage, example sentences, alternative terms, and more!
Contents
What does subarashii mean?
The Japanese word subarashii (素晴らしい、すばらしい) is an “i” adjective that means great or wonderful. Note that the “ii” at the end sounds like a long letter “E”.
To say “that’s great” would simply be sore wa subarashii (それは素晴らしい). If you want to make the sentence more polite, then you can add desu (pronounced dess) to make it sore wa subarashii desu.
Below, we take a look at some examples of the various ways you can use subarashii in Japanese.
To make it easier for you, I have written each sentence in full Japanese kanji on the first line, followed by roman letters (romaji), and hiragana, with the English meaning coming last. I have also highlighted the new word in bold.
Example sentences using subarashii
友達は素晴らしい人です。
Tomodachi wa subarashii hito desu.
ともだちはすばらしいひとです。
My friend is a great person.
素晴らしい試合でした。
Subarashii shiai deshita.
すばらしいしあいでした。
It was a great match.
彼女は毎日素晴らしい料理を作ってくれた。
Kanojo wa mainichi subarashii ryouri wo tsukutte kureta.
かのじょはまいにちすばらしいりょうりをつくってくれた。
She made wonderful food for us every day.
Totemo subarashii: Really great
Want to emphasize the sheer awesomeness of something even more? You can say totemo subarashii (とても素晴らしい). Totemo means very or really.
Hontou ni subarashii (本当に素晴らしい) is another alternative with a similar meaning. However, note that you cannot use sugoku together with subarashii.
叔母さんはとても素晴らしい人だよ。
Obasan wa totemo subarashii hito da yo.
おばさんはとてもすばらしいひとだよ。
My aunt is a really great person.
とても素晴らしい映画でした。
Totemo subarashii eiga deshita.
とてもすばらしいえいがでした。
It was a really wonderful movie.
本当に素晴らしい一日だったね。
Hontouni subarashii ichinichi datta ne.
ほんとうにすばらしいいちにちだったね。
It was a really wonderful day, wasn’t it?
Alternative words
Suteki (素敵、すてき) means nice or wonderful. Interestingly enough, its first kanji (素) also appears in subarashii. Suteki is a “na” adjective, so it is usually said as suteki na before the word it modifies. In this case, we can use sugoku to add the sense of really or very.
すごく素敵なドレスだね！
Sugoku suteki na doresu da ne!
すごくすてきなどれすだね！
That’s a really nice dress!
Saikou (最高、さいこう) means great or awesome. This usage is pretty casual, though I wouldn’t describe it as slang. I wrote an article about it here.
昨日の天気は最高だったよ。
Kinou no tenki wa saikou datta yo.
きのうのてんきはさいこうだったよ。
The weather was great yesterday.
Kaiteki (快適、かいてき) means pleasant or comfortable. Kaiteki is also a “na” adjective. I would say this is a slightly more “grown up” word by tone, so it has a sophisticated feeling to it.
このホテルは快適です。
Kono hoteru wa kaiteki desu.
このほてるはかいてきです。
This hotel is pleasant.
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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