This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the Japanese word tanoshii, including its Japanese definition and translation, example sentences, related expressions and more!
Contents
What does tanoshii mean?
Tanoshii (楽しい、たのしい) means fun or enjoyable in Japanese. Oh wow, what an important word! You simply must know this one if you want to have conversations with your friends in Japanese!
First, let’s look at some examples of how to use it below.
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.
Example sentences using tanoshii
テニスは楽しいスポーツです。
Tenisu wa tanoshii supootsu desu.
てにすはたのしいすぽーつです。
Tennis is a fun sport.
彼女とのデートはいつも楽しい。
Kanojo to no deito wa itsumo tanoshii.
かのじょとのでーとはいつもたのしい。
Dates with my girlfriend are always enjoyable.
今日は本当に楽しい一日だったね！
Kyou wa hontou ni tanoshii ichinichi datta ne!
きょうはほんとうにたのしいいちにちだったね！
Today really was a fun day, wasn’t it?
楽しい仕事を見つける方法
Tanoshii shigoto wo mitsukeru houhou
たのしいしごとをみつけるほうほう
How to find an enjoyable job
Tanoshikatta: Going back in time
The past tense of tanoshii is tanoshikatta (楽しかった、たのしかった). Accordingly. I had fun or I enjoyed myself is simply tanoshikatta (the “I” is understood without the need to spell it out).
Again, I can’t overly stress how often you will use this if you are even a little bit sociable.
昨日はどうもありがとう。楽しかった!
Kinou wa domo arigatou. Tanoshikatta!
きのうはどうもありがとう。たのしかった!
Thanks very much for yesterday. I had fun!
この間、楽しかったね! また飲みに行こう!
Kono aida, tanoshikatta ne! Mata nomi ni ikou!
このあいだ、たのしかったね! またのみにいこう!
I had fun last time we went out. Let’s go drinking again!
初めて野球を観戦することができたのでとても楽しかったです。
Hajimete yakyuu wo kansen suru koto ga dekita no de totemo tanoshikatta desu.
はじめてやきゅうをかんせんすることができたのでとてもたのしかったです。
I saw a baseball game for the first time. It was very enjoyable.
Tanoshikunai: When you’re not having fun
Tanoshikunai (楽しくない、たのしくない) means not fun or boring. As you probably guessed, grammatically speaking, tanoshikunai is the negative form of tanoshii.
この試合は楽しくない。
Kono shiai wa tanoshikunai.
このしあいはたのしくない。
This match is boring.
最近、好きなゲームをしても楽しくない。
Saikin, suki na geimu wo shitemo tanoshikunai.
さいきん、すきなゲームをしてもたのしくない。
Recently it’s not fun even when I play my favorite games.
会社の飲み会は気を遣うからあまり楽しくない。
Kaisha no nomikai wa ki wo tsukau kara amari tanoshikunai.
かいしゃののみかいはきをつかうからあまりたのしくない。
Company drinking parties are not that fun because you can’t be yourself.
How to use tanoshii and tanoshikunai
One thing you will learn when spending any decent amount of time in Japan is that most people emphasize the positive and play down any negatives. At least when around other people they don’t know that well.
This means you will hear tanoshii a lot more often than its negative counterpart. Not that it’s untrue, but this is how the culture often works here in Japan. Conversely, even when an event or outing isn’t that great most Japanese will just smile and say “tanoshikatta ne” while keeping their real opinion to themselves.
The same goes for food, which is always oishii (美味しい、おいしい) almost no matter what. Anything but oishii makes people think you aren’t happy with the food!
You are free, of course, to say whatever you like. But dwelling on the negatives simply isn’t common unless you’re with close friends or family. Just something to bear in mind!
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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